Dr. Carlos Leopardi-Verde of the Universidad de Colima and his colleagues from Mexico and the United States have described a new orchid species from the deciduous forests of the Mexican state of Oaxaca.

The newly-discovered species belongs to Encyclia, a Neotropical orchid genus ranging from Florida in the southern USA south to the Salta province in northern Argentina.

Dr. Leopardi-Verde and co-authors proposed the species name Encyclia inopinata.

“From the Latin inopinatus, unexpected, in reference to the surprise that we felt when first seeing the new species in bloom and realizing that it was an undescribed species in the Encyclia diota complex,” they wrote in a paper in the journal PhytoKeys.

According to the team, Encyclia inopinata is between 11.8 and 16.5 inches (30 – 42 cm) tall, up to 31.5 – 35.4 inches (80 – 90 cm) including the inflorescence. Each branch of the inflorescence bears from 3 to 8 flowers.

One of the most distinctive characters of the new orchid is the yellow labellum patterned with crimson to reddish brown lines.

Typically for its species complex, this orchid’s leaves are wide and leather-like and the flowers are relatively large, showy, and leathery to fleshy-leathery petals and sepals.

The color of the flowers varies from bronze-green with dark purple lines near the base to pale pink and creamy white splashed with reddish-brown spots and lines towards the top.

Encyclia inopinata can be found in deciduous forests along the Pacific slope of Oaxaca state, near of the border with Guerrero state, at about 1,200 m. It blooms between March and July.

“Encyclia inopinata has been reported only from Oaxaca state near the pacific slope from north of Puerto Escondido to north of San Juan Cacauatepec — near the border with the Guerrero state — in deciduous forest, ca. 1,200 m. It usually grows as a lithophyte. This species appears to be rare,” the scientists said.

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Leopardi-Verde C.L. et al. 2016. Encyclia inopinata (Orchidaceae, Laeliinae) a new species from Mexico. PhytoKeys 58: 87-95; doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.58.6479