Cohniella ultrajectina (Pulle) Cetzal & Carnevali, 2013

Cohniella ultrajectina (Pulle) Cetzal & Carnevali View in CoL , comb. nov. Oncidium ultrajectinum Pulle, Rec. Trav. Bot. Neerl. View in CoL 4: 121. 1907. —TYPE: SURINAME. “Cultivated at the Utrecht Botanical Garden from a plant coming from Suriname as a gift from v. Asch v. Wijck, the Governor of the colony, to our University” (holotype: presumably at U, not seen).

Epiphytic erect herbs, shortly creeping to cespitose; rhizome short, thin; roots 20–80 + 1–2 mm, white; pseudobulbs 3–7 + 5–8 mm, subspherical to broadly ovoid, apically 1-leaved, totally enclosed by 3 imbricate sheaths 2.5–5.0 + 0.1–0.2 cm upon spreading, eventually deciduous; leaves (11-)18 –51 + 0.3 –0.8 cm, terete, thickly fleshy-coriaceous, dark green; inflorescences solitary, born at the base of the pseudobulbs, (10-)23–60(–109) cm long, a 2–8(–25)-flowered raceme or panicle with 4 –6 branches, 3.2 –7.5 cm long, the branches 2 –5-flowered; peduncle and rachis dark green; peduncle terete, erect to arched, 1.1 –4.0 mm thick, with 4– 8(–14) remotely bracted internodes, peduncle bracts 4–17 + 2–14 mm, the basalmost longest, oblanceolate, acuminate, tubular; bracts subtending the lateral branches 4–6 + 1.8–3.0 mm, elliptic, acuminate; floral bracts 2–3 + 0.7–1.0 mm, narrowly elliptic, acuminate; flowers resupinate, small-sized for the genus, 16–19 mm diameter, with widely opening perianth segments and the petals and sepals somewhat reflexed, greenish yellow with reddish spots; ovary with pedicel 17–20 mm long, of which 4–6 mm correspond to the ovary, this 7–10 mm thick; sepals basally clawed for almost 1/8 of total length of the sepal, spreading or somewhat reflexed, dorsal sepal 6–8 + 4–5 mm, obovate, apically obtuse and minutely apiculate, concave in the upper half, the claw 1.0– 1.2 mm long; lateral sepals 7.0–7.5 + 4.0– 4.5 mm, partially fused at the very base, then free, similar to dorsal; petals 7–9 + 3.5–4.0 mm, oblong, somewhat oblique, the apex rounded, somewhat reflexed in natural position; labellum yellow, deeply 3-lobed, 10 –12 mm long from the base to the apex of the central lobe, 10– 12 mm wide across the apices of the lateral lobes, the lateral lobes in the same plane as the central lobe and +/– perpendicular to it; central lobe 5– 7 + 8–12 mm, spathulate to transversely elliptic or rounded, apically circular, basally narrowed into an isthmus, 1.4 –1.5 + 2–3 mm; lateral lobes 3.5 –3.8 + 3.0 – 3.5 mm, erect-patent, subquadrate, apically truncate-oblique, somewhat reflexed in natural position, the upper and lower margins flat to undulated with many small, closely set waves; disc 4 –5 + 3 –4 mm, yellow with reddish spots at the base, obtriangular; the disc bearing a well-developed callus, 3.2 –4.2 + 2.0 – 2.5 mm, yellow with reddish spots, consisting of an elevated, +/– flat, rectangular platform, 1–2 + 1.5 –1.8 mm, the lateral margins of the platform ear-shaped, 0.9–1.0 + 0.3–0.5 mm; proximally with two lateral, divergent teeth that are conical and point upward, 2 + 1 mm; distally with two lateral, divergent teeth that are conical and point upward, 1 + 0.3 mm; the proximal teeth exceed the length of the distal teeth; the central tooth or keel laterally compressed, 2.8–3.0 + 1.3–1.5 mm; the basal portion of the callus with conspicuous lateral extensions, conical, yellow with red-brown spots; column 3–4 + 1.3–1.5 mm, yellow with red-brown spots, the ventral face in the same plane as the labellum lobes, tabula infrastigmatica longitudinally channelled, stigmatic surface 1.0 –1.5 + 1.0– 1.1 mm, rounded; column wings 1.2–1.5 + 2.0– 2.5 mm, asymmetrically bilobed; anther cap 1.3–1.5 + 0.9 –1.0 mm, operculate, ellipsoid; pollinarium typical for the genus. Figure 9 View FIG .

Distribution and Ecology— Cohniella ultrajectina is known from Venezuela and the Guianas. In Venezuela the species is known from the margins of the Orinoco River near Puerto Ayacucho, Amazonas State in an area with a pronounced dry season and an assemblage of savanna and tropical forests. In Guyana, C. ultrajectina occurs south of the Kanuku Mountains in the Rupununi Savanna in the central and northwestern highlands. In Suriname and French Guiana it is only known in the coastal plain. In general, this species grows both in wet and seasonally dry forests at 0– 500 m. Cohniella ultrajectina is fundamentally disjunct with other member of the genus but the lone Venezuelan collection indicates that in the westernmost section of its range, it is sympatric or parapatric with C. macrocebolleta and C. cebolleta .

Diagnostic Characters— Cohniella ultrajectina is distinguished by its small flowers that are 16–19 mm diameter (vs.> 20 mm diameter in other species of the C. cebolleta complex). It is also distinctive based on its short, subquadrate lateral lobes (3.5–3.8 + 3.0– 3.5 mm; Appendix 1) with undulate margins, whereas these structures in related species are oblong, rounded, or oblong-lanceolate with entire margins. Another characteristic of C. ultrajectina is the callus of the labellum, which consists of a rectangular platform with ear-shaped lateral margins; the proximal and distal portion of the callus consist of two lateral, conical teeth; the proximal teeth are perpendicular and exceed the distal teeth length; centrally the callus consists of a keel as long as half the length of the isthmus of the labellum.

Range of Variation— Cohniella ultrajectina is known from several specimens and is fairly homogeneous in its vegetative and floral characters.

Taxonomic Comment— According to protologue, the type material of C. ultrajectina was cultivated in the botanical garden at Utrecht from a collection originating in Suriname, which was communicated by former Governor Van Asch Van Wijck. A search of the type material at U failed to uncover it. In the protologue, this species is described as having yellow flowers of 16 mm in diameter, sepals of 7 mm long and petals of 8 mm long, and a purple spotted labellum of 11 + 10 mm. The above description is consistent with the specimens studied from southern Venezuela and the Guianas. Herbarium materials here referred to C. ultrajectina have been previously determined as Oncidium

cebolleta, a name under which it was synonymized. However, floral morphology suggests that it is a separate entity and its reinstatement is here proposed. See taxonomic comments under C. cebolleta .

Additional Material Examined— VENEZUELA. Amazonas: Municipio Autónomo Atures, alrededores de Puerto Ayacucho, 26 Jan 2012, Romero & Alvarez 4097 (TFAV!, CICY spirit collection!).

GUYANA. Cuyuni-Mazaruni: Kanuku mts, 27 Jan 1961, Prop. 575 / 60 (NY!); Western extremity of Kanuku Mountains, in drainage of Takutu River, 200 m, 4–22 Mar 1938, Smith 3319 (AMES!, NY!). Potaro-Siparuni: Savanna between Takutu River and Kanuku Mountains, 12–22 Mar 1938, Smith 3269 (NY!). Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo: Kanunu, Rupununi R., Bush Mouth near Witaru Falls, 3 4 0 N, 59 28 0 W, 90–120 m, 11 Feb 1985, Jansen-Jacobs et al. 152 (U!); Rupununi, ca. 5 miles from Karasabi (4–5 hr walk) along Yurora River, 4 N, 59 21 0 W, 300 m, 3 Jan 1982, Knapp & Mallet 2811 (AMES!, NY!).

FRENCH GUIANA. La Lomons, 1929, without collector (P!). Roura, 1858, Sagot s. n. (P!).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. The authors are indebted to the curators of B, BM, HUA, IRBR, NY, P, PH, PORT, RENZ, S, TFAV, U, VEN, and W. The senior author thanks the support from CONACYT by scholarship 162579 for doctoral studies. CONACYT partially funded this project via grant 49980-Q awarded to GC. Sergio Salazar Vallejo (ECOSUR-Chetumal) and Rodrigo Duno (CICY) provided comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript or contributed discussion and /or literature. Silvia Hernández Aguilar and José L. Tapia-Muñoz (CICY) helped with handling and databasing of loans. Ivón Ramírez Morrillo (CICY) selected specimens at PH, for which we are deeply indebted. Lizandro Peraza photographed specimens at B; and Carlos Leopardi (CICY) provided images of C. cebolleta .