Epidendrum mesogastropodium Hágsater & Dodson 2004 GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Gastropodium
Photo by © Walter Teague
TYPE Drawing by © Eric Hagsaterand The AMO Herbario Website
Photo by © Andreas Kay and his Flickr Orchid Photo Website
THROUGH
Common Name The In Between Gastropodium-Like Epidendrum [refers to this species being intermediate between E melamnogastrium and E gastropodium
Flower Size .6" [1.5 cm]
Found in Ecuador from the border between Ecuador and Colombia south along the western range to north of Quito and occasionally in the provinces of Bolivar and Azuay. at elevations of 2300 to 3400 meters as a small sized, cold growing epiphyte or terrestrial with branching near the apex, canelike, terete, thin, straight stems carrying 5 to 6 on the branches, thoughout the apical half, coriaceous, alternate, narrowly lanceolate, bilobed apically, low dorsal keel, minutely crenulate apical margin leaves that blooms in the winter through fall on a terminal, erect, racemose, short, nutant, occuring only once, thin, terete, successively 6 to 10 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acute floral bracts and carrying resupinate, non fragrant flowers.
"Epidendrum mesogastropodium belongs to the GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Gastropodium, characterized by the branching habit, linear-Ianceolate to lanceolate, bilobed leaves, arching nutant, racemose inflorescence, membranaceous or rarely fleshy flowers, the lip entire to 3-lobed, with an erose margin, ecallose, wlthout or with 1 to 10 thin, smooth to erose keels, the column united to the lip from totally to obliquely to free, the subgroup has small, usually brightly-colored flowers, the column ending in flesny-thickened lobes. The species has pink flowers, burgundy red to black column, ovate-elliptic, subacute sepals, and the cushion of the lip truncate, not ending in keels; the base of the lip is orange. It is similar to Epidendrum melanogastropodium Hágsater & Dodson, though that species usually has a black column and anther, and nearly circular, wide, rounded tepals; the cushion is also truncate, but closer to the base of the lip. Epidendrum gastropodium is similar overall, but the cushion of the lip is prolonged into three short keels." Hagsater etal 2004
CAUTION Walter's photo is correct and Eric Hagsater's TYPE Drawing is absolutely correct. Andreas Kaye's photo is suspect.
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Orquideologia Vol 24 #1 2005 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 731 Hagsater and Sanchez 2004 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 759 Hagsater & Sanchez 2004 Drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 8 Plate 836 Hagsater & Sanchez 2006 see recognition section; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 photo fide; Orquideas de Farallones de Cali Galindo-Tarazona, Haelterman, Zuluaga Trochez and Sebastian Moreno 2020 photo fide
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