Canistropsis pulcherrima is known only from the type collection. According to its collectors this species was found in a flooded forest near sea level, at Ariro bay, Angra dos Reis. This site is now suffering from intense disturbance, as is happening throughout the southern coastal area of Rio de Janeiro state, in spite of the fact that this region is widely known for its megadiversity. This is probably the reason that there are no recent collections of this species, which is represented today in cultivation by a single clone, descendent of the holotype, that flowers from October to January and produces many seeds
DISCUSSION
Initially, the short scape and inflorescence not raised above the leaf rosette suggested a close relationship between this taxon and C. microps. It was easily distinguished from the latter by the disparate flower structure, especially the petals. However, based on a broader, more natural view of the taxonomic group under study, plus observations on successive flowering periods of the holotype descendants, it became clear that this species is more closely related to C. billbergioides. Given the enormous variability of C. billbergioides, the distinction between these taxa is rather obscure. But C. pulcherrima can be differentiated by its floral scape that is shorter than the leaf sheaths, allowing the inflorescence to rest on the leaf rosette, not rise above it. Furthermore, the inflorescence of this taxon is more robust than that of C. billbergioides, with many more flowers in the intensely sub-branched basal fascicles, and its petals are more acute. The stigma is also different from that of C. billbergioides in its blades that are papillae-free or have inconspicuous papillae, which draws C. pulcherrima closer to C. burchellii and C. microps. —SeeLeme 1998
