Telipogon cruentilabrum Iturralde, M.M. Jiménez & Baquero, 2025

Telipogon cruentilabrum Iturralde, M.M. Jiménez & Baquero , sp. nov.

( Figures 1–3 View FIGURE 1 View FIGURE 2 View FIGURE 3 ).

Type:— ECUADOR. Bolívar: Salinas de Bolívar, road to Tres Marías – Muldiaguán , 2792 m, 29 May 2023, G.A. Iturralde GI- 2305-0475 (holotype: QCNE!).

Telipogon cruentilabrum is morphologically most similar to T. tamboensis , both presenting yellow flowers with longitudinal yellow veins, conspicuous transverse reddish-brown veins, and a dark red callus on the lip. It is distinguished from T. tamboensis by the petals and lip which are undulate towards the margins (vs. flat margins) with tortuous, occasionally branched-incomplete, transversal vein-lines (vs. the complete and straight transverse vein-lines), the orbicular-rhomboid petals with a prominent dark red-brown swelling at the base (vs. elliptic-ovate petals with an orange-brown, slightly swollen base), the transversely ovate lip with a red-purple radial stain at the basal third (vs. broadly elliptic lip without a basal stain at the base) and a thicker, wider than longer (5.5–6.5 × 6.5–7.0 cm), cordiform callus (vs. thinner, longer than wider, ca. 6.1 × 5.5 cm, narrowly cordiform callus).

Description:— Plant epiphytic, caespitose, up to 30 cm in length, including inflorescence. Roots 1.8–2.9 mm in diameter, thick, cylindrical. Stem abbreviated, up to 3 cm long, laterally compressed, covered by up to 5 distichous, imbricating sheaths. Leaves 2–7, 3.4–8.0 cm long, coriaceous, distichous, articulated to the sheaths, the blade 3.5– 7.0 × 1.5–3.0 cm, elliptic to broadly elliptic, acute, conduplicate, carinate abaxially, the basal leaves smaller than the upper leaves. Inflorescence apical or lateral, erect, racemose, 2–8 flowered, opening in succession, up to 3–4 opened simultaneously; peduncle 5–13 cm long, ancipitous at the base and gradually widening upwards, forming 3 longitudinal, conspicuous carinae, and up to 4 carinae in larger inflorescences; rachis ancipitous to 3-carinate, up to 6 cm long, floral bracts light-green, 10.2–17.0 × 3–8 mm, conduplicate, triangular, boat-shaped, ovate when extended, acute, carinate abaxially. Ovary 24–28 mm long, triquetrous, shortly pedicellate, 1–2 mm long. Flowers 27–28 × 38 mm, non-resupinate; sepals, petals and lip yellowish with dark yellow veins and conspicuous, dark red-brown, tortuous-irregular, longitudinal and transversal lines, the petals irregularly stained dark red-brown at their bases, the lip with a red-purple stain which radially extends and fades towards the middle and a dark purple-red callus, the column dark purple, the anther red-brown suffused with yellow at the margins. Sepals 15–16 × 6–7 mm, ovate, acute, concave, carinate abaxially, 3-veined, margins involute in mature flowers; lateral sepals oblique. Petals 17–20 × 17–21 mm, orbicular-rhomboid, obtuse, minutely apiculate, convex to reflexed towards the apical half, undulate along the margins, 9–11-veined; glabrous, with a dark red-brown, attenuate, minutely papillose and ciliate bump at the petal base. Lip 18–20 × 22–26 mm, transversely ovate, obtuse, minutely cuspidate, the margins undulate and irregularly reflexed, minutely papillose at its basal third; 17–21-veined; callus 5.5–6.5 ×6.5–7.0 mm, adnate to the base of the lip, cordiform, papillose and hirsute, the midportion longitudinally swollen to form a broad ridge-like structure, the apex slightly recurved, mostly free from the blade beyond 2 mm. Column 10–11 × 8–9 mm, broad, sessile, ventrally dark purple and velvety, with a concave dorsal projection, flat at the edges, forming a wider than high anther cavity, and with two unprominent lateral swellings; with three tufts of setae, one profuse tuft on the dorsal projection and two sparse tufts on the lateral swellings; setae of uniform size up to 3.8 mm long, acicular, simple, purple-red with pale yellow tips. Stigma ca. 4.0 mm wide, quadrate to trapezoid, dark purple, with thickened and sinuate-undulate margins, the ventral margin protruding 1.5 mm. Anther cap ca. 3.4 mm wide, dorsal, cordiform, papillose. Pollinarium ca. 4.0 mm long, with two pairs of unequal pollinia attached to an uncinate viscidium. Fruit triquetrous capsule.

Distribution and ecology:— We have recorded a single population of Telipogon cruentilabrum so far. However, deposited herbarium material suggests there are at least two other populations at 50 and 100 km to the north of the type locality: one near Pilaló and another near Sigchos, in Cotopaxi Province ( Figure 4 View FIGURE 4 ). We have not found the species, neither in situ nor in herbaria, to the north or south of these localities ( Figure 4 View FIGURE 4 ). The ecosystem where T. cruentilabrum develops corresponds to the montane evergreen forest of the Western Andes, code BsMn03 (Ministerio del Ambiente del Ecuador 2013). Young and mature plants have been observed growing as epiphytes, between 1.5 m and 3 m from the ground, on branches of scattered small trees within a pastureland, mainly on Baccharis latifolia (Ruiz & Pavon 1978: 208) Persoon (1807: 424) ( Asteraceae ), with branches almost completely covered with mosses and liverworts. The new species is growing in sympatry with Telipogon polyrrhizus Reichenbach (1878: 6) and a Telipogon sp. (former Stellillabium), Cyrtochilum macranthum ( Lindley 1833: 205) Kraenzlin (1917: 95) , and Epidendrum suavis (Rchb. f. & Warsz. in Reichenbach 1854; 112) Løjtnant (1977: 327). In data available from herbarium specimens the species has been recorded with flowers from July to November. In the type locality, Telipogon cruentilabrum has been recorded flowering between June and November, with the peak of bloom in August.

Etymology:— In allusion to the red-purple, radial stain at the base of the lip which helps identifying the species.

Conservation status:— The known distribution of Telipogon cruentilabrum is located in the western Andes Mountain range of Ecuador where three localities have been recorded for this species, two in the province of Cotopaxi and one in the province of Bolivar.The calculated extent of occurrence (EOO) is 280.12 km 2, while its area of occupation (AOO) is = 12 km 2. The western Andes Mountain range of Ecuador has undergone considerable changes in land use, changing the natural vegetation cover for areas designated for agriculture and livestock ( Kleemann et al. 2022). Of the calculated area of occurrence for T. cruentilabrum , only 44% has natural vegetation, while of the calculated area of occupation, 33% has natural vegetation. Furthermore, large mining projects have been established compromising the remnants of native forest that remain in this region. Considering these factors and following the IUCN criteria we recommend categorizing T. cruentilabrum as Endangered, according to criteria B1ab(i)(iii) + B2ab(ii)(iii).

Discussion:— Calaway Dodson, who intensively studied Telipogon in Ecuador between 1980 and 2010, misidentified the species described here as T. dendriticus . Dodson collected and identified some specimens near Pilaló, west central Ecuador, as belonging to T. dendriticus (C.H Dodson, T Dodson & A. Embree 7203 (SEL-ex RPCS); C.H Dodson, P. Morgan & M. Fallen 8560 (SEL); C.H. & P.M Dodson 14299 (MO-ex RPCS) ( Figure 5 View FIGURE 5 ); C.H. & P.M Dodson 15384 (MO-ex RPCS). Nevertheless, these specimens present a thick, well-developed callus on the lip, which is not present in T. dendriticus . Effectively, the type specimen of T. dendriticus, Lehmann 94 (W), in concordance with the original description by Reichenbach (1878), lacks a callus on the lip ( Figure 5 View FIGURE 5 ). Moreover, Kranzlin (1919) provides further details by expanding the description and recording the species as presenting an ecallose lip (“ labellum ecallosum ”; Kranzlin 1919:12). More recently, Brass (1982: 91) pointed out T. dendriticus lacks a callus on the lip and illustrates a plant of the species accordingly. Based on all this, we concluded that the specimens collected by Dodson from Pilaló do not belong to T. dendriticus but, together with plants found in the Bolivar Province, to a previously undescribed taxon. Despite intensive searching, we have not yet been able to find specimens that fit the description of T. dendriticus , either on our field trips or in photographs such as those on iNaturalist.org or Flickr, making it difficult to make an in-depth comparison with that species.

Telipogon cruentilabrum can be identified by the combination of the following characters: the pale-yellow flowers with yellow longitudinal veins, vaguely and irregularly stained with dark red-brown; the tortuous, occasionally branched-incomplete, conspicuous, transversal vein-lines, reminiscent of tiny thunderbolts; the petals and lip with heavily undulate blades with irregularly reflexed margins; the notorious, dark red-brown swollen base of the petals; the conspicuous radial, purple stain at the base of the lip which dilutes towards the middle; the large (approx. 1/3 of the length of the lip), dark purple-red, longitudinally elevated callus; the anther profusely surrounded by three tufts of red-purple with pale yellow tipped, evenly sized setae; the anther cavity wider than high, with straight margins, and the wide, sub-trapezoid, dark purple stigma ( Figures 1 – 2 View FIGURE 1 View FIGURE 2 ).

Telipogon cruentilabrum is morphologically most similar to T. tamboensis . Both species present flowers with transverse vein-lines and a callus on the lip. Nevertheless, T. cruentilabrum is easily distinguished by having the lip with a conspicuous, wider than larger, cordiform callus (vs. larger than wider, narrowly cordiform callus in T. tamboensis ), which also separates it from T. dendriticus (lacks a callus). When compared with other species with reticulated flowers and a callus on the lip, T. cruentilabrum is distinguished by having flowers with strongly undulate, reflexed petals and lip, with a large, nose-shaped callus that occupies approximately 1/3 of the length of the lip, and a dark stain at the base of the lip, extending radially towards the middle.

Additional specimens examined:— ECUADOR. Bolívar: Salinas de Bolívar, road to Tres Marías–Muldiaguán , 21 Aug 2022, LB3144 ( QCNE!). Cotopaxi: Pilaló 2200 m, 22 Aug 1978, C.H. Dodson, T. Dodson & A. Embree 7203 ( SEL-ex RPCS, photo!) ; 4 Km east of Macuchi ( Pilaló ), 1800 m, 26 July 1979, C.H. Dodson, P. Morgan & M. Fallen 8560 ( SEL, photo!) ; Pilaló 2400 m, 15 July 1984, C.H. & P.M. Dodson 14299 ( MO-ex RPCS, photo!) ; Pilaló, 2400 m, 3 Nov 1984, C.H. & P.M. Dodson 15384 ( MO-ex RPCS, photo!) ; Costa Azul 29 km north from Sigchos , 2442 m, 11 Aug 2003, J. Ramos, J. Contreras, I. Ramos & F. Biteri 7215 ( QCNE!) .

Telipogon dendriticus ECUADOR. Chuchi ( Chunchi ): Andes from Guayaquil to Quito, 9000 feet, June 1876, C. Lehmann 94. (W-HOLOTYPE, photo!).