Pleurothallis (Effusiella) convallaria

[Duane McDowell]

Photographed yesterday at Ecuagenera's main (cooler-growing nursery in Gualaceo, Ecuador (near Cuenca). By the way, it's genuinely chilly here this morning. It's been in the 60s and 70s since I got here, but this morning I need a jacket and 2 shirts. But I digress...

[RosieC]

Ooh, that's cool. Such furry cute flowers.

The plant imediately reminds me of an unusual looking one you had already posted, but I had to look up the name. The leaves remind me of the Pleurothallis (Acronia) penelops. I know they are pretty different, but if you imagine this one tilting the leaves down and down and down, so that the top is turning upside down, and the leaves lengthening then it starts to get there. The flowers effiectively come from the same place as well.

I know... I'm talking nonsence... but this one has helped me understand the Acronia and how something as different looking as the Acronia can fit into the pluro alliance.

[Duane McDowell]

Originally Posted by RosieC

Ooh, that's cool. Such furry cute flowers.

The plant imediately reminds me of an unusual looking one you had already posted, but I had to look up the name. The leaves remind me of the Pleurothallis (Acronia) penelops. I know they are pretty different, but if you imagine this one tilting the leaves down and down and down, so that the top is turning upside down, and the leaves lengthening then it starts to get there. The flowers effiectively come from the same place as well.

I know... I'm talking nonsence... but this one has helped me understand the Acronia and how something as different looking as the Acronia can fit into the pluro alliance.

Not nonsense at all! If you look at the plants, there are many similarities. If you examine the flowers, there are even more! It's a huge group, and it's very diverse. Then you add in the rest of the pleurothallidinae (Restrepia, Masdevallia, Stelis, Lepanthes, etc...) and you start to get an idea of how terribly addictive they can be!

[RosieC]

It must be great to see so many while your photographing them. You said on one of the others that seeing so many and looking up their current names helped get to grips with the new names. Just seeing the few you are posting I get a better feel for some of these areas than I had before.

I still need to spend time properly looking through your flickr pages. I've only had chance for a quick glance through. I was starting to drool as I was flicking through them to find the name of the Pleurothallis (Acronia) penelops. You said it could take a year to post them all here... I think it could take me as long to take the detailed look at them all that I would like to do

[Tindomul]

Very nice. They look like little clams with external gills.

[Duane McDowell]

Originally Posted by Tindomul

Very nice. They look like little clams with external gills.

Definitely have that "aquatic" feel to them!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Are they allied to Plths cypripedioides and Plths amparoana?

[Duane McDowell]

Yes, they are. They're all in the genus Effusiella now. All of them roughly clam-shaped and fuzzy on the inside.
My resource for genera in this group is The Official Website of The Pleurothallid Alliance.
It's really an outstanding website for taxonomy, photos, etc... Lynn O'Shaughessy does the work on it; it looks like a full-time job!

[Fishballs]

Thanks. Keep em coming.

[Duane McDowell]

Originally Posted by Fishballs

Thanks. Keep em coming.

I sure will. Thank you for the encouragement! I'm off to do some exploring in the cloud forest reserve with Gilberto Merino today. He's one of the foremost experts on South American orchids. I can hardly wait.
Then one more day of shooting before I move on to Mindo, where I'll be doing a few days of bird watching.
I'm at just over 2000 pictures right now, so I'll have some to post for a while yet!