Notes on the genus Sauvetrea (Orchidaceae, Maxillariinae), with a description of a new species

Abstract

The genus Sauvetrea Szlach. (Orchidaceae) was segregated from Maxillaria sensu lato in 2007. It embraces a group of from10 to nearly 20 species, all initially defined as Maxillaria sect. Trigonae. Sauvetrea can be easily distinguished from closely relatedRhetinantha M.A.Blanco by the lip callus. During the revision of the materials stored in AMES we came across specimens collected byVargas in Peru, which were initially identified by Schweinfurth as Maxillaria brachypetala Schltr. We compared Vargas’s discovery withthe protologue of the latter species and other Sauvetrea, but it does not fit the description of any genus representatives known so far. Wedescribe it below as a new species, Sauvetrea schweinfurthiana Szlach. & Lipińska.