Synopsis of Ecuadorian Pterichis (Orchidaceae)

Marta Kolanowska; Dariusz L Szlachetko; Sławomir Nowak

doi:10.7717/peerj.10807

Synopsis of Ecuadorian Pterichis (Orchidaceae)

PeerJ. 2021 Feb 9:9:e10807. doi: 10.7717/peerj.10807. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Marta Kolanowska^{1

2}, Dariusz L Szlachetko³, Sławomir Nowak³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geobotany and Plant Ecology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.
² Department of Biodiversity Research, Global Change Research Institute AS CR, Brno, Czech Republic.
³ Department of Plant Taxonomy and Nature Conservation, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland.

Abstract

A taxonomic synopsis of the orchid genus Pterichis in Ecuador is presented. All national representatives of this genus are characterized and their floral segments are illustrated. Four new species and two new varieties are described. An updated key to Ecuadorian Pterichis is provided. Plants of the genus are growing mostly as terrestrial herbs at the altitude of 2,300-4,110 m. Often two or more species co-occur in the area of 25 × 25 km. Their occurrence was reported from three ecoregions-the Eastern Cordillera real montane forests, the Northern Andean páramo and the Northwestern Andean montane forests. Seven Ecuadorian Pterichis are endemic.

Keywords: Biodiversity; Cranichideae; Distribution; Neotropics; New species; Taxonomy.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of Czech Republic within the CzeCOS program, grant number LM2018123 and by the National Science Centre, Poland (PRELUDIUM 2016/21/N/NZ8/01601). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.