2025/09/24 by Marco F. Monteros, Eugenio Restrepo, Gabriel A. Iturralde +2 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Plant and animal studies #Fern and Epiphyte Biology #Plant Diversity and Evolution
paper · pdf · doi:10.3897/phytokeys.263.159826
openalex publication_date 2025/09/24 · openalex created_date 2025/09/25 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
A new species of Porroglossum (Orchidaceae) is described and illustrated from the cloud forests of northwestern Ecuador. Porroglossum hildeae sp. nov. is morphologically similar to P. josei Luer, but can be distinguished by several features: it has narrowly obovate leaves reaching up to 9 cm in length (vs. elliptical, 4.5 cm), a longer dorsal sepaline tail measuring 6 mm (vs. 1.5 mm), oblong-ovate petals with one acute angle at the upper margin (vs. ovate with the upper and lower margins acutely angled below the middle), and the lip obtrullate, attenuate at the base, and acute at the apex (vs. obovate with the apex obtuse and abruptly acuminate). It grows epiphytically at approximately 1,600 m elevation in a cloud forest ecosystem that is increasingly threatened by deforestation, land-use change, and mining activities. Due to its restricted distribution and the ongoing degradation of its habitat, we recommend classifying it as Critically Endangered according to IUCN Red List criteria.