Epidendrum asplundii Hágsater & Dodson 2001 GROUP Difforme

TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website

EARLY THROUGH EARLY

Common Name Asplund's Epidendrum [American Orchid Enthusiast and Collector of type current]

Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]

Found in Ecuador in rainforests at elevations of 800 to 1100 meters as a mini-miniature to miniature sized, warm growing epiphyte with a simple, cane-like, ancipitose, flexuous stem carrying 3 to 4, all along the stem, ascending, coriaceous, lanceolate, unequally bilobed, margin entire, dorsally carinate leaves that blooms in the early summer through early fall on a terminal, sessile, single flowered inflorescence with shorter than the ovary, elliptic, rounded floral bracts and carrying a resupinate, bright green flower.

"Epidendrum asplundii belongs to the GROUP Difforme characterized by the caespitose, sympodial plants, fleshy, pale green to glaucous leaves, apical inflorescence, sessile, rarely with a short peduncle, one-flowered to many-flowered, and then corymbose, without spathaceous bracts, fleshy, green to yellowish-green rarely white flowers. The species can be recognized by the small but vigorous plants, ancipitose stems, ascending leaves, solitary flower, inflated ovary, 3-lobed lip with ovate lateral lobes and short, transversely rectangular midlobe with a minute mucro, and the prominent, tripartite, deeply dentate clinandrium. It is similar to E. chanchamayodifforme Hágsater & L. Sánchez from Peru, which has a more slender habit, narrower leaves, semicircular lateral lobes of the lip, disc of the lip with 3 prominent keels, midlobe of the lip without mucro, and an entire clinandrium. Epidendrum linearidifforme Hágsater & L. Sánchez, from French Guiana and Surinam, has terete stems, narrower leaves, longer flowers, a noninflated ovary, lateral lobes of the lip subquadrate, short, and an entire clinandrium. Epidendrum scharfii Hágsater & Dodson from Colombia and Ecuador has longer plants, terete stems, 3 to 4 flowers, reniform lip, and an entire clinandrium." Hagsater etal 2001

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 414 Hagsater & Sanchez 2001 drawing fide;

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