Ophiomeris panamensis Standl. Small, white to flesh-colored, saprophytic herb, 4-12cm tall, arising from a tuberous root, leafless; stem slender, 1-flowered. Flower urceolate-campanulate, subtended by 4bracts ca 4 mm long; perianth 6-lobed, to 12 mm long, zygomorphic, persisting in fruit, the bulged part with 3 slits, the outer lobes short and reflexed, the inner lobes spreading, tapered to filiform purplish appendages 3-4 cm long, the throat 3-4 mm diam, surrounded by a 6-lobed rim; stamens 6, to 5.5 mm long, pendent below throat, emarginate at apex, each bearing a pair of small lateral appendages, the thecae borne on their outer surface (against inner wall of perianth); ovary inferior; style to 3.5 mm long, 3-branched, the branches densely pubescent and longer than the unbranched part, the stigmatic part terminal. Capsule fleshy, to ca 3 mm long; seeds very numerous, minute. Croat 10848. Frequent in the forest. Flowering and fruiting from June to September; not obvious at other times of the year. The flower is specialized and probably pollinated by small insects. The small fleshy fruit may be dispersed by small birds, or perhaps the minute seeds are carried by insects. Van der Pijl (1968) suggested earthworms as possible dispersers of seeds in the family. Known only from Panama, from tropical moist forest on BCI and from tropical wet forest in Colon (near Portobelo).