Epidendrum megalospathum Rchb.f. 1877 GROUP Megalospathum type for the group
Flowers in situ Cundinamarca Colombia elevation 2800 meters 6/20
Inflorescence in situ Cundinamarca Colombia elevation 2800 meters 6/20
Plant showing the large apical spathe from which the inflorescence arises in situ 6/20 Cundinamarca
Photos by © Jay Pfahl
Photo by © Danny Lentz Copyright ©
Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
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Common Name or Meaning The Large Sheath Epidendrum [refers to the terminal, large spathe that the inflorescence arises through]
Flower Size 1.25" [3 cm]
Found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela at elevations of 1400 to 3600 meters as a small sized, pendant growing, cool to cold growing epiphyte with a short, simple, cane-like, laterally compressed, pendant stem completely enveloped by leaf-bearing leaf sheaths and carrying 5 to 8, all along the stem, several, distichous, alternate, pendent spreading, fleshy, ventrally glaucous, basally clasping, narrowly elliptic, acute, tridentate, margin purple, crenulate-minutely dentate towards the apex leaves that blooms in the fall and winter on a terminal, arising through a large apical, inflated, conduplicate, ovate, light green marked with reddish purple spathe, short to 2" [to 5 cm], simultaneously 5 to 6 flowered, racemose inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular-lanceolate, obtuse, embracing floral bracts and carrying the few, resupinate flowers close to the apice of the stem.
The first photo is of a plant in a dwarf cloud forest at an elevation of 3000 meters in Cundinamarca department of Colombia flowering in mid December.
"Epidendrum megalospathum belongs to the GROUP Megalospathum characterized by the sympodial, sub-caespitose but branching habit, many-leaved stem, fleshy, oblique leaves, a short, few flowered raceme subtended by large semi-ovate spathes, resupinate flowers, the column more or less united to the lip; and the SUBGROUP Megalospathum which has the calli substituted by elongate, low ribs, flowers green or greenish brown, lip burgundy red, lustrous, margin denticulate. The species is recognized by the long stems, to 7" [17.5 cm] long, inflorescence about 2 to 2.4" [5 to 6 cm] long, the end of the peduncle and rachis exposed beyond the spathes, sepals oblong to oblong-elliptic, .6 to .72" x .16 to .22" [15 to 18 x 4.0 to 5.5 mm], petals lanceolate, acute, .56 to .64" x .16 to .18" [14 to 16 x 4.0 to 4.5 mm], the lip ovate, base cuneate; the calli substituted by two low, narrow, parallel ribs, with two lower ribs in the middle forming a “V” shaped structure, and then ending in a minutely papillose, short extension reaching about 1/3 of the lip. It is similar to Epidendrum rhodochilum (Schltr.) Hágsater & Dodson, which has similarly long stems, the peduncle of the inflorescence nearly totally hidden within the spathes, only a part of the rachis is visible, sepals ovate-oblong, .6 to .68" x .26 to .28" [15 to 17 x 6.5 to 7.0 mm], petals elliptic-ovate, .6 to .64 x .21 to .22" [15 to 16 x 5.3 to 5.5 mm], lip sub-orbicular-obovate, disc with three low, narrow, parallel ribs in place of the calli. Epidendrum brachyrhodochilum Hágsater & E.Santiago has shorter stems, 1.4 to 2.8" [3.5 to 7 cm] long, the peduncle and rachis nearly totally hidden within the spathes, sepals elliptic, .44 to .48" [11 to 12 mm] long, petals elliptic-sub-ovate, .44 to .48" x .2" [11 to 12 x 5 mm], lip sub-orbicular-obovate, .48 to .64" x .48 to .56" [12 to 16 x 12 to 14 mm, disc with 3 parallel ribs all the same size and length, the lateral pair bifurcate at the base and thus appearing as 5 ribs, the lateral ribs very short." Hagsater etal 2015
Synonyms Diothonea megalospatha (Rchb. f.) Garay & Dunst. 1965; Diothonea rhodochila Schltr. 1924; Diothonea sodiroi Schltr. 1916; Epidendrum falsum Rchb. f. 1886; Epidendrum puberulosum Hágsater 1992; Epidendrum rhodochilum (Schltr.) Hágsater & Dodson 1992;
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 7: 247 Schlechter 1920 as E falsum; Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 7: 249 Schlechter 1920; Beitrage Zur Orchideenkunde Von Colombia 27:61 Schlechter 1924 as Diothonea rhodochila; Venezuelan Orchids Vol 3 Dunsterville & Garay 1965 as Diothonea megalospatha drawing fide; Flora de Venezuela Foldats Volumen XV Part 3 1970 drawing fide; Orchids of Venezuela ; An Illustrated Field Guide Vol 1 Dunsterville & Garay 1979 as Diothonaea megalospatha drawing fide; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 473 Dodson 1989 drawing fide; Orchids Travel By Air A Pictoral Safari Mulder, Mulder-Roelfsema and Schuiteman 1990 as Dionathonea megalospathum photo fide; Orquídea (Méx.) 12(2): 296. Hagsater 1992 as E puberulosum; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 5 COS 1994 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 370 Hagsater 1999 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 387 Hagsater 1999 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 472 Hagsater 1999 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 474 Hagsater 1999 see recognition section; Orchids of Venezuela [An illustrated field guide] Vol. 1 Ramiro and Carnevali 2000 drawing fide; Native Ecuadorian Orchids Vol 2 Dodson 2001 drawing fide; Orquideas Nativas del Tachira Cesar Fernandez 2003 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 706 Hagsater and Sanchez 2004 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 762 Hagsater 2004 see recognition section; Orquideologia 24: 3 Ortiz & Hagsater 2005; Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 809 Hagsater 2006 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 854 Hagsater 2006 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 861 Hagsater 2006 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 884 Hagsater 2006 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 12 Plate 1287 Hagsater 2009 as E falsum see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 14 Plate 1481 Hagsater & Sanchez 2013 as E falsum see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1508 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1532 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1539 Hagsater 2015 Drawing/photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1555 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1559 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 see recognition section; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 drawing/photo fide;
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