Epidendrum bicuniculatum Hágsater & E.Santiago 2007 GROUP Neowilliamsia

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

Common Name or Meaning The Twice Cuniculate Epidendrum [refers to the nectary which has a gallery within]

Flower Size .8" [2 cm]

Found in Costa Rica in montane wet forests at elevations around 1700 to 1840 meters as a small to just medium sized, cool growing epiphyte with a simple, new stem produced from a basal to middle internode of the previous stem, cane-like, terete below, laterally compressed above, thin, erect, straight stems carrying, in the upper 1/3 of the stem, 3, alternate, articulate, oblong-elliptic, obtuse, minutely apiculate, subcoriaceous leaves that blooms in the fall on a terminal, occuring only once, racemose, distichous, erect, 5.4" [13.5 cm] long including the 1.6" [4 cm] long, sinuous, ancipitous peduncle, rachis strongly zig-zag, ancipitous, lax, to 10 flowered inflorescence with about half open at any one time and the rest successive, non resupinate, distichous flowers and half as long as the ovary, deltoid, acute, conduplicate, ancipitous floral bracts and the flowers have tawny colored sepals, and petals, lip and column white strongly tinted with magenta.

"Epidendrum Bicuniculatum belongs to the GROUP Neowilliamsia characterized by the ancipitous stems and rachis with conduplicate, acute bracts and usually non-resupinate flowers with an often digitate lip and has 2 pollina with 2, hard, laminar caudicles. The species is recognized by the simple inflorescence, strongly zigzag racemes, white petals, lip and column heavily tinged with magenta, lip cuneate, widely obovate in outline, the apical margin dentate, with a very small, narrowly triangular midlobe, petals spatulate, rounded, column with an apical, erect, acute tooth, ovary triquetrous. E. epidendroides (Garay) Mora-Retana & J. Garda has a strongly zigzag, paniculate inflorescence, sepals .44 to .56" [11 to 14 mm] long, flowers yellowish tinged with red-brown, lip 3 lobed, lateral lobes subquadrate, midlobe long, linear. Epidendrum spathulipetalum Hágsater & Dressler has a paniculate inflorescence with numerous pink-white flowers, sepals .28 to .32" [7 to 8 mm] long, lip clearly 3-lobed, margin of lateral lobes erose to elliptic laciniate, midlobe acicular." Hagsater etal 2007

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 913 Hagsater 2007 see Drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 932 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 989 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 995 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section;

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