TYPE Drawing /Photo by Eric Hagsater and The AMO Herbario Website
MID 
Common Name The Massif de la Hotte Epidendrum [A mountain in westernmost Haiti]
Flower Size .4" [1 cm]
Found in southwesternmost Haiti on the far western end of the Tiburon Peninsula, one of the most biologically diverse and significant areas of all of Hispaniola on rocks with moss on karst hills at elevations of 750 to 900 meters as a small to medium sized, warm growing lithophyte with simple, cane-like, thin, flexuous, terete. Leaves 9 to 12, alternate, distributed throughout the stem; sheaths tubular, striated; blade narrowly ovate-lanceolate, acute, sub-coriaceous-succulent, green tinged purple, margin entire leaves that blooms in the mid spring and summer on a terminal, erect, without a spathe, peduncle 1.64 to 4.92" [4.1 to 12.3 cm] long, with short triangular bracts .08 to .12" [2 to 3 mm] long, distant from each other; rachis zig-zag, 2.24 to 4.56" [5.6 to 11.4 cm] long, apical, from the mature growth, racemose, nutant, flowering in succession several times in a year, fractiflex, successively 1 to 2, 7 to 16 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acute, embracing floral bracts and carrying greenish pink, translucent flowers with the column green and the fragrance not registered.
"Epidendrum massif-hottense belongs to the GROUP Physinga which is characterized by to the generally small, caespitose plants, the inflorescence apical and racemose producing new racemes with time and thus pluri-racemose, the successive flowers opening one at a time on an elongate peduncle with acuminate bracts, the lip entire and the ovary with a prominent vesicle. The species is recognized by leaves 1.23 to 2" x .16 to .24" [3.3 to 5.0 x 0.4 to 0.6 cm], very short bracts on the peduncle of the inflorescence, .08 to .12" [2 to 3 mm] long, much shorter than the internodes, and lip .176 x .268" [4.4 x 6.7 mm], reniform, base slightly cordate. Epidendrum polygonatum has 5 to 12 leaved stem, leaves shorter, 1.12 to 1.56" x .16 to .28" [2.8 to 3.9 x 0.4 to 0.7 cm], ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, and the zig-zag inflorescence, with the bracts of the peduncle .2 to .44" [5 to 11 mm] long, surpassing the internodes, sepals small, .6 to .2" [4 to 5 mm] long, translucent pink, lip .2 x .48" [5 x 12 mm], widely triangular-obcordiform, twice as wide as it is long. Epidendrum ceticaudatum Rinc.-González, Villanueva & E.Santiago, has arching stems 6 to 7.2" [15 to 18 cm] long, 4 leaves distributed along the apical half of stem, flowers larger, sepals .52 to .56" [13 to 14 mm] long, and lip .248 x .384" [6.2 x 9.6 mm], bell-shaped when spread. Epidendrum physodes Rchb.f. has leaves 1.4 to 2.8" x .24 to .48" [3.5 to 7 x 0.6 to 1.2 cm], flowers small, sepals .2 to .32" [5 to 8 mm] long, lip .12 to .2" x .16 to .28" [3 to 5 x 4 to 7 mm] transversely obovate." Hagsater etal 2019
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 17(1) Plate 1738 Hagsater & Jimenez 2019 LCDP Photo/photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 17(1) Plate 1789 Hagsater & Jimenez 2019 see recognition section;
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