Epidendrum lankesteri Ames 1923 GROUP Alberti SUBGROUP Allenii drawing by © Atwood and The Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Jany Renz Herbaria Website

Part ShadeCool to Cold Winter Spring Summer Fall

Common Name Lankester's Epidendrum [American in Costa Rica earlier 1900's]

Flower Size 1.2" [3 cm]

Found in Costa Rica at elevations of 1350 to 2400 meters as a medium sized, cool to cold growing epiphyte with simple, canelike, terete basally, laterally compressed above, erect, straight stems carrying 7 to 9, all along the stem, articulate, alternate, suberect, narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, acuminate, margin entire leaves that blooms at most any time of the year on a mostly terminal; erect, long pedunculate; occasionally lateral, sessile, erect, ancipitose, two winged, the wings gradually narrower towards the apex; both types pluri-racemose, erect, 4" [10 cm] long, densely successively single flowered [per raceme] 6 to 30 flowered inflorescence with shorter than the ovary, ovate-elliptic, rounded, minutely apiculate, conduplicate, imbricating to sub-imbricate, glumaceous, persistent floral bracts.

The large floral bracts, the flowers with a generally cordate lip with an obtuse, emarginate apex with a central apicule separate this species from others. The similar E adnatum has an ovate lip with an acute apex and an inflated ovary.,

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; The Genus Epidendrum Ames 1936; Ceiba Vol 5 No 1 L O Williams 1956; Icones Plantarum Tropicarum Plate 1319 Atwood 1989 Drawing fide; Manual de las Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003; Icones Orchidacearum Plate 952 Hagsater & Sanchez 2007 Drawing fide; Orchids of Costa Rica Vol 3 Morales 2009 photo fide;

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