Epidendrum lankesteri Ames 1923 GROUP Alberti SUBGROUP Allenii

Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website

Drawing

Drawing by © Atwood and The Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Jany Renz Herbaria Website

to

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.

"Epidendrum lankesteri belongs to the GROUP Alberti which is characterized by the sympodial habit, laterally compressed to ancipitose or somewhat fusiform-thickened stems, the apical or apical and lateral racemose, distichous inflorescence more or less with imbricating bracts on the peduncle, producing one flower at a time, and the SUBGROUP Allenii which is characterized by the stems with numerous leaves, the apical rarely lateral inflorescence, peduncle elongate, bare, non-bract bearing, two-winged, the short rachis covered by rounded, usually imbricating bracts. The species is recognized by the large plants 20 to 32" [50 to 80 cm] tall with narrowly elliptic to lanceolate leaves 2.2 to 10.8 x .6 to 1.2" [5.5 to 27 x 1.5 to 3 cm], green to greenish white flowers, the sepals oblanceolate, .52 to .64" [13 to 16 mm] long, and the lip subcordiform, the basal half obscurely 4-lobed, .24 to .36" x .16 to .3" [6 to 9 x 4 to 7.5 mm]. Epidendrum alleniii L.O.Williams has shorter plants 8 to 15.2" [20 to 38 cm] tall, with shorter, elliptic to lanceolate leaves 1.6 to 5.6" x .48 to 1.04" [4 to 13.5 x 1.2 to 2.6 cm], the flowers greenish to pale pink with a white lip, sepals elliptic to lanceolate, .4 to .56" [10 to 13.5 mm] long, and the lip subreniform with the apex bilobed, .4 to .48 x .48 to .6" [10 to 12 x 12 to15 mm]. Epidendrum adnatum Ames & C.Schweinf. has narrower, linear-lanceolate to linear-elliptic leaves .24 to .72" [0.6 to 1.8 cm] wide, and the flowers somewhat smaller, sepals .36 to .48" [9 to 12 mm] long, the lip ovate, subacute, .16 to .216" x .14 to .168" [4 to 5.4 x 3.5 4.2 mm]. Epidendrum maduroi Hágsater & Carcía-Cruz has vegetatively similar but shorter plants, 16 to 18" [40 to 45 cm] tall, bronze to greenish flowers with an apple-green lip, oblong-oblanceolate, sepals .44 to .6" [11 to 15 mm] long, and the lip widely cordiform, .2 to .264 x .24 to .32" [5 to 6.6 x 6 to 8 mm]." Hagsater etal 2007

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; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 339 Hagsater & Sanchez 1999 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 352 Hagsater & Sanchez 1999 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 4 plate 493 Hagsater & Sanchez 2001 see recognition section; Manual de las Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 9 Plate 901 Hagsater & Sanchez 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 952 Hagsater & Sanchez 2007 Drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 12 Plate 1251 Hagsater 2009 see recognition section; Orchids of Costa Rica Vol 3 Morales 2009 photo fide;

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------