Epidendrum nervosiflorum Ames & C.Schweinf. 1925 GROUP Neowilliamsia

Photo by © Karremans and The Epidendra Website

Drawing

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

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Common Name or Meaning The Nerved Flower Epidendrum

Flower Size .08" [2 mm]

Found in Costa Rica in wet montane forests at elevations around 1600 to 2400 meters as a small sized, cool to cold growing epiphyte with a simple, basally terete, cane-like, branching, from the intermediate internodes of the previous, laterally compressed above, ancipitose, thin, erect, straight stem enveloped basally by nonfoliaceous, tubular sheaths and carrying 1 to 4, throughout the apical half, alternate, articulate, erect-spreading, ancipitose, elliptic-oblong to lanceolate, obtuse, minutely bilobed and apiculate, subcoriaceous leaves that blooms in the late winter through summer on a terminal, occuring only once, generally paniculate [rarely racemose in youth], ancipitose, two-winged, flexuous, 3 to 4.8" [7.5 to 12 cm] long, laxly many flowered inflorescence with 1 to 2, ancipitose, tubular, acute bracts and small, half as long as the ovary, deltoid, acute, conduplicate, ancipitose floral bracts.

The branching stems with leaves all along the apical third, the ancipitous, biwinged peduncle, the two ranked, small, whitish green flowers with a triangular-lanceolate lip and a strongly arched ovary distinguish this species from others.

"Epidendrum nervosiflorum belongs to the GROUP Neowilliamsia characterized by the ancipitose stems and rachis, the rachis with conduplicate, acute bracts, distichous, usually non-resupinate, distichous flowers, the lip often digitate and the 2 or 4 pollinia with 2 hard, laminar, caudides. The species is recognlzed by the generally paniculate inflorescence, small flowers (sepals lesss than .16" [4 mm] long, green with a white, entire, bicallose lip, and 2 pollinla; it is endemic from the western end of the Cordillera de Talamanca in central Costa Rica. It is somewhat similar to Epidendrum anoglossum Schltr. which has a racemose inflorescence witll larger, greenish-yellow flowers with sepals .24 to .4" [6 to 10 mm] long, an ecallose lip, 4 pollinia, and widely distributed in Costa Rica and the province of Chiriquí in western Panama. Epidendrum cymbiglossum Hágsater, endemic from the province of Chiriquí, also has a racemose inflorescence, large, yellow flowers with sepals .58 to .7" [14.5 to 17.5 mm] long, and an ecallose lip, and 4 pollinia." Hagsater etal 2007

Synonyms Epidanthus nervosiflorus (Ames & C.Schweinf.) Garay 1977; Neowilliamsia nervosiflora (Ames & C.Schweinf.) Dressler 1981

ReferencesW3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI * Schedul. Orch.l 8: 47-48. Ames & Schweinfurth 1925; The Genus Epidendrum Ames 1936; Ceiba Vol 5 No 1 L O Williams 1956; Orchid Digest 41(1): 22. Garay 1977 as Epidanthus nervosiflora; Orquídea (Mexico City), n.s., 8(1): 29. Dressler 1981 as Neowilliamsia nervosiflora; Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama Dressler 1993; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1C lieferung 42 - 43 pg 2626 - 2762 Brieger 2001 as Neowilliamsia nervosiflora; Manual de las Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 9 Plate 908 Hagsater & Sanchez 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 9 plate 964 Hagsater & Sanchez 2007 drawing fide;

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