Maxillaria anacatalinaportillae (Orchidaceae, Maxillariinae), a new remarkable species from Ecuador

Abstract

Neotropical genus Maxillaria Ruiz & Pav. belongs to one of the most diverse and species-rich groups of orchids. Several of its representatives are popular, horticultural plants with large and showy flowers, often nicely fragranced. It is not uncommon that some distinctly colored individuals are introduced to the commercial market under names of similar, more or less related species, as informal varieties or color forms, largely causing confusion. While investigating the diversity of Maxillaria in Ecuador, we have encountered plants that were commercially referred to as M. sanderiana xanthina. In the course of conducted morphological and micromorphological analyses, we concluded that it is a new, separate species and hereby, we describe it as M. anacatalinaportillae.