I collected this species in 2006, during my first trip to Pico das Almas, Bahia. Unfortunately, I was never able to identify it correctly, partly because it was not included in “Flora of the Pico das Almas” (Stannard, 1995). Thanks to Benjamin Øllgaard, we now know that this is not only a new record for this mountain, but also a tremendous range extension for P. erythrocaulon, which was previously known only from Minas Gerais. Morphologically, it resembles P. biformis (Hook.) B. Øllg. by the differentiated constricted distal divisions.
-
- P. erythrocaulon – terrestrial
-
- P. erythrocaulon – epiphytic
-
- P. erythrocaulon – note the highly reduced sporophylls
Wow, really interesting growth habit
It gets more interesting than that: I just found another picture of the same species growing as terrestrial (see above)! I think that I gave them the same collection number, but forgot to include the epiphytic habit on the label.