Epidendrum carpophorum Barb.Rodr. 1882GROUP Nocturnum SUBGROUP Nocturnum
Photo by © José Luis Panozo Añez
Plant and Flower in situ Guyana
Photo by © Eric Christenson
TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
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Common Name The Fruit Bearing Epidendrum
Flower Size 6" [15 cm]
Found in Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam and Brazil at elevations around 600 to 700 meters as a small to medium sized, warm growing epiphyte with fractiflex, strongly flattened stems enveloped basally to mid stem by evanescent, conduplicate sheaths and carrying distichous, conduplicate, mostly purplish, broadly elliptic leaves, that blooms in the spring through fall on a terminal, erect, short, single [sometimes 2] flowered inflorescence with nocturnally scented flowers.
Often cited as a synonym of E tridens, E nocturnum, or E angustilobum but the distinguising factor is the plant, not particularily the flower. This species is recognized by the laterally compressed stems, ancipitose towards the apex, the relatively wide leaves, the ovary with the body of the capsule placed more towards the apex of the capsule instead of as in E towards the apex of the ovary. E angustilobum has narrower leaves and the body of the capsule is clearly near the apex of the ovary and has a very long pedicel. E macroophorum has tall stems with ancipitose leaf sheaths with large wide leaves and a very long ovary with the body of the capsule towards the apex of the ovary. E nocturnum has terete stems, relatively short and narrow leaves, a short ovary about as long as the sepals and the body of the capsule centered and occupying nearly the whole length of the ovary.
"Epidendrum carpophorum belongs to the GROUP Nocturnum which is characterized by the sympodial, caespitose plants, short, racemose or pluri-racemose inflorescence, without spathaceous bracts, usually large, star-shaped flowers, with similar sepals and petals, and the SUBGROUP Nocturnum which has cane-like stems, non-thickened towards the middle, and usually successive flowers; the flowers are mostly indistinguishable in shape. The species is recognized by the laterally compressed stems, ancipitose towards the apex, leaves relatively wide,2-3:1, 1 to 2.4" [2.5 to 6.0 cm] wide, ovary 2 to 4.8" [50 to 120 mm] long, the body of the capsule placed slightly towards the apex of the capsule. It has been confused with E angustilobum which is abundant in the Antillies, coastal Colombia, Venezuela and the Guyanas, and rare in Costa Rica and Panama, it has leaves 2:1,.8 to 2.8" [2 to cm] wide, a much longer ovary, 4.8 to 8" [120-200 mm] long, and the body of the capsule clearly near the apex of the ovary, with a very long pedicel. E macroophorum also has tall stems with ancipitose leaf sheaths, and is very abundant along the Pacific slope of Colombia, Ecuador and northern Peru, rare in Panama, and has large leaves 3-4:1, and a very long ovary, 8.8 to 12" [220 to 300 mm] long, the body displaced towards the apex. E nocturnum is widely distributed in the Neotropics, has terete stems, and relatively short and narrow leaves, a short ovary about as long as the sepals which are 1.6 to 2.6" [45 to 62 mm] long, with the body of the capsule centered and occupying nearly the whole length of the ovary." Hagsater etal 2010
Synonyms Epidendrum tridens var. briegeri I.Bock 1982
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 709 Hamer 1982 as E carpophorum drawing = E tridens; Moscosoa 4: 192 Dod 1986 Selbyana Vol 10 Orchids of Central America Hamer 1988 as E carpophorum drawing = E tridens; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Series II Orchids of Bolivia plate 0326 Dodson & Vasquez 1989 as E carpophorum drawing not = E tridens; Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama Dressler 1993 as E carpophorum = E tridens; An Orchid Flora Of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands Ackerman 1995 as E carpophorum drawing = E tridens; Venezuela, Paraiso de Orquideas Romero 1997 as E carpophorum photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 350 Hagsater & Sanchez 1999 see recognition section; Orchid Digest Vol 64 #1 2000 photo fide; Orchids of Venezuela [An illustrated field guide] Vol. 1 Ramiro and Carnevali 2000 as E carpophorum drawings ok; AOS Bulletin Vol 71 # 5 2002 photo fide; Orquideas Nativas del Tachira Cesar Fernandez 2003 as E carpophorum photo fide; Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana Vol 7 Steyermark, Berry, Yatskievych and Holst 2003; Orchids of Bolivia Vol II Laelinae Vasquez & Ibisch 2004 drawing/photo fide; Orquideas Da Chapada Diamantina Brito & Cribb 2005 drawing/photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 11 plate 1102 Hagsater & Soto 2008 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1313 Hagsater & Sanchez 2010 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1326 Hagsater & Santiago 2010 See recognition section; Orquideas de Roirama Luz & Franco 2012 as E carpophorum photo fide; Orchids of French Guiana Szlachetko, Veyret, etal 2012 drawing/photo fide; Orchidees du Bresil As Orquideas da Serra Do Castello Vol 3 Chiron & Bolsanello 2013 Drawing/photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1520 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1553 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1561 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1564 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1565 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1566 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [2] Plate 1576 Hagsater & Sanchez 2016 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [2] Plate 1595 Hagsater & Sanchez 2016 see recognition section; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 photo ok; Icones Orchidacearum 18(1) plate 1803 2020 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 18(1) plate 1822 2020 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 18(1) plate 1840 Hagsater, Santiago and Medina 2020 see recognition section
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