Epidendrum dentiferum Ames & C.Schweinf. 1925 GROUP Difforme

Photo by © Eric Hagsater

Drawing

Drawing by © Jimenez and The AMO Herbaria Website

LATE MID

Common Name The Toothed Epidendrum [refers to the dentate apex of the column]

Flower Size 1.2" [3 cm]

Found on the Atlantic slope of Costa Rica and Panama and on the Pacific slope of the Cordillera Occidental in the department of Choco Colombia at elevations of 500 to 1100 meters as a mini-miniature to small sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte with simple, sometimes somewhat creeping, laterally flattened, flexuous stems carrying 4 to 6, distichous, all along the stem, narrowly lanceolate, elliptic, acute, smooth, subcoriaceous, green leaves that blooms in the late winter through mid fall on a terminal, pluriracemose, occuring over several years, subsessile, mostly successively single, [may be all at once] 1 to 3 flowered inflorescence carrying pale green, seminal scented flowers.

"Epidendrum dentiferum belongs to the GROUP Difforme which is recognized by the caespitose sympodial plants, fleshy, pale green to glaucous leaves, apical inflorescence, sessile, rarely with a short peduncle, one-flowered to corymbose, without spathaceous bracts, fleshy, green to yellowish green rarely white flowers. The species is recognized by the caespitose to creeping plants, somewhat laterally compressed stems, narrowly elliptic-lanceolate leaves, 1 to 3, light green flowers, membranaceous sepals with the apex recurved, linear petals, the suborbicular lip abruptly mucronate at the apex, the column with two apical, fleshy, lacerate wings and the prominent, clinandrium-hood with the margin denticulate, the three forming a funnell. It is distinguished from the very similar E jejunum . which has white to greenish white flowers, rhombic to oblanceolate petals and a cordiform lip. E. stellidifforme Hágsater & Dodson, endemic to Ecuador, at elevations of 1300 to 1500 meters, has larger plants, longer flowers, lanceolate petals, and the lip is acuminate at the apex." Hagsater etal 2007

Synonyms Epidendrum platychilum Schltr.1923

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Ceiba Vol 5 No 1 L O Williams 1956; Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 9 513 - 576 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1977 as Nanodes dentiferum; Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama Dressler 1993; Manual de las Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003; Orquideas de la Serrania del Baudo Cho Colombia Misas 2005 drawing/photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 9 plate 928 Sanchez & Hagsater 2007 Drawing fide; Orchids of the Department of Valle de Cauca Colombia Vol 2 Kolanowska, Hagsater, Ayala and Saldana 2014 drawing/photo fide; Orchids of the Darien Gap Kolanowska 2014 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1535 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 see recognition section; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 Drawing fide;

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