Epidendrum borchsenii Hágsater & Dodson 2001 GROUP Difforme

TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & Salazar and The AMO Herbario Website

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Common Name Borchsenius' Epidendrum [Danish Proffessor and Orchid Enthusiast current]

Flower Size .8" [2 cm]

Found in northern Ecuador on the western slope of the Andes in primary forests at elevations around 50 to 600 meters as a miniature sized, hot to warm growing epiphyte with simple, laterally compressed, flexuous stems carrying 6 to 10, all along the stem, subcoriaceous, elliptic, bilobed apically leaves that blooms in the fall through winter on a terminal, on mature stems, racemose, sessile, 5 to 7 flowered inflorescence with shorter than the ovary floral bracts and carrying simultaneously opening, resupinate, pale yellowish green flowers.

"Epidendrum borchsenii 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 its laterally compressed stems, larger leaves, inflated ovary, suborbicular lobes of the midlobe of the lip, non-keeled lip, subglobose calli, prominent, tripartite clinandrium, the central part bifid, papillose column and ovary. It is similar to E. carnevalii, a species endemic to Venezuela, in the central and western section of the Coastal Range, but that has somewhat laterally compressed stems, short leaves, divergent, prominent calli, entire clinandrium. Epidendrum chlorocorymbos Schltr., from the Atlantic Slopes from Mexico to Panama has larger plants and flowers, terete stems, more than 10 flowers, short clinandrium and glabrous column and ovary. Epidendrum littorale Hágsater & Dodson from Ecuador and Colombia, in the coastal plain at the base of the western andean ridge, has terete stems, broad, prominent, crenate midlobe of the lip, with a wide, shallow apical sinus, entire clinandrium and glabrous column and ovary. Epidendrum romanii Hágsater & Dodson, endemic to Ecuador, has terete stems, ascending leaves, entire, obconical clinandrium and glabrous column and ovary." Hagsater etal 2001

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidaceaum 4 Plate 418 Hagsater & Sanchez 2001 drawing fide;

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