C. sessilifl ora var. dioica L. B. Smith Dioecious (rarely monoecious) epiphyte; glabrous. Leaves ligulate, arching, divergent, rounded or obtuse and apiculate at apex, to 22 cm long, 1.2-2.5 cm wide, obscurely lepidote, moderately thin, the outermost markedly reduced, acute at apex, becoming bractlike, often strongly recurved. Scapes generally much longer than leaves, erect, slender; scape bracts broadly elliptic, apiculate, erect, green, to ca 1 cm long, much shorter than internodes; staminate inflorescences widely spaced, bipinnate, pyramidal, the axis flexuous to geniculate; branches ascending, bearing many widely spaced flowers; rachis very slender; floral bracts ovate, 3-4 mm long, equaling or shorter than sepals; flowers spreading or subspreading; sepals asymmetrical, to 4.5 mm long; petals elliptic, obtuse, 4-6 mm long, greenish-yellow; stamens 6, in 2 unequal whorls, the filaments flattened; anthers slightly longer than broad; ovary ovoid, ca 1.5 mm long; style short; stigmas 3, slender, nonfunctional. Pistillate inflorescences usually simple, sometimes branched, 2.5-11 cm long; floral bracts broadly ovate, obtuse, much shorter than sepals, 3-7 mm long; sepals asymmetrical, suborbicular, 7-8 mm long, the apical edge discolored in age; petals free, lance-ovate, only slightly exserted, not appendaged, white; style very short; ovary superior, broadly ovate. Capsules ovoid, short-beaked ,10-13 mm long; seeds ca 1.5 mm long, slender, with an apical coma, the coma to 3.5 cm long, pale brown, folded 2 or 3 times in the capsule. Croat 5230, 8263, Shattuck 604. Because of the dimorphic nature of the inflorescences, both sexes of this species have been described as distinct species and were regarded as separate taxa in the Flora of Panama (Smith, 1944). Dr. Smith (pers. comm.) concurs in the reduction of the variety dioica, the name given the staminate form of the plant.