brandon_eduardo_gutierrez_rodriguez's Favourites

M. Purdy #1468. Specimen made from two lowest flowers on this plant. Synonym of Hexalectris arizonica.

Plants discovered by @kira291 (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/226313780#activity_comment_6d487041-d763-452e-992e-42b537d172a9)

Population of 3 flowering stems (1 in flower, 1 in bud, and 1 that died while in bud), only the flowering stem is pictured here but the other were within 1.5 m of this plant with the dead stem immediately adjacent and likely having originated from the same underground structure. Occurrence is on private land in Cedar Crest which was accessed with the landowner's permission.

Petal lengths and widths exceed those described for B. arizonica in Flora of North America and Flora Neomexicana, but I am still leaning this way (over B. spicata) based on geography, flowers only partially open (some mostly closed), and petals and sepals not apically revolute.

ID notes: Sinus btwn lip lobes gen 2mm or less. Central veins of the lip with their highest keels approaching 0.7 (a little hard to measure now that the flowers are pressed). Flower 1: column 14 mm long, petal 1: 19x7 mm, petal 2: 17.5x6.2 mm; flower 2: column ca. 12 mm long, petal 1: 17x6.5 mm, petal 2: 16x6 mm. Presence of a rostellum difficult to determine from pressed plants and photos but appears present but somewhat reduced? Additionally, all flowers only partially open and none have apically revolute petals and sepals which per FNM fits arizonica better than spicata. Petal measurements on the other hand fit better with H. spicata descriptions.