Epidendrum fusagasugaense E.Parra, Hágsater & L.Sánchez 2013 GROUP Difforme
TYPE Photo/ TYPE Drawing by © Parra and The AMO Herbaria Website
LATER 
Common Name The Fusagasuga' Epidendrum [Refers to the town in Cundinamarca where the species type occured]
Flower Size .6" [1.5 cm]
Found in Fusagasuga, Cundinamarca department of Colombia on the western slope of the Cordillera Oriental of the Andes at elevations around 1900 meters as a small to medium sized, cool growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, strongly laterally compressed, ancipitous, flexuous stems carrying 5 to 7, all along the stem, widely elliptic, lanceolate, bilobed, coriaceous, low dorsal keel, bright green, margin entire leaves that blooms in the later summer and fall on a terminal, without a spathe, sessile, peduncle inconspicuous, occuring only once, sub-corymbose, successively 3 to 5 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acute floral bracts and carrying resupinate, slightly fragrant, pale green flowers becoming bright green towards the disc of the lip.
" Epidendrum fusagasugaënse belongs to the GROUP Difforme which is characterized by the caespitose, sympodial plants, fleshy, pale green to glaucous leaves, apical inflorescence, sessile, rarely with a short peduncle, one to many flowered and then corymbose, without spathaceous bracts, fleshy, green to yellowish-green rarely white flowers. The species can be recognized by the wide, ancipitose, laterally compressed stems, wide, elliptic-lanceolate leaves, the margin yellow, large green flowers, sepals .8 to .88" [20 to 22 mm] long, with a deep green spot on the disc of the widely obreniform lip, base deeply cordate, apex shallowly 3-lobed. It is similar to Epidendrum microcephalum Hágsater & L.Sánchez, known only from Venezuela, which has taller stems 9.6 to 14" [24-35 cm], wider leaves .92 to 2.4" [2.3 to 6 cm] and smaller flowers, sepals .4 to .48" [10 to 12 mm] long, linear-oblanceolate petals, lip .28 to .36 x .52 to .64" [7 to 9 x 13 to 14 mm], parallel calli, and an arching column .28 to .36" [7 to 8 mm] long. Epidendrum upanodifforme Hágsater & L.Sánchez from eastern Ecuador and northern Peru, has stems to 24" [60 cm] tall, smaller flowers with sepals .6 to .8" [15 to 20 mm] long, linear-ovate petals, and the mid-lobe of the lip surpasses the lateral lobes and forms two semi-circular lobes, the column is arched. Epidendrum vasquezii Hágsater & L.Sánchez is known from Bolivia and neighboring Brazil and has narrower leaves .6 to 1" [1.5 to 2.5 cm], larger flowers also with a deep green disc, sepals 1.28 to 1.32" [31 to 33 cm] long, narrowly obovate, acute, the lip is bilobed, disc 3-ribbed, column arched. Epidendrum yaracuyense Carnevali & G.A.Romero endemic to Venezuela has narrowly obovate sepals and petals, an entire lip, and arched column with the clinandrium-hood erose-dentate." Hagsater etal 2013
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Orchidacearum 14 Plate 1438 Hágsater & Sanchez 2013 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [2] Plate 1584 Hagsater & Sanchez 2016 see recognition section; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 18(2) Plate 1854 Hagsater & Jimenez 2021 see recognition section
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