Epidendrum oripicoranense Hágsater & E.Santiago 2010 GROUP Elleanthoides SUBGROUP Rhombochilum

TYPE Drawing by © Lopez and The AMO Herbaria Website

AGAIN

Common Name The Cerro Picorana Epidendrum [a mountain in the eastern branch of the Andes in northern Peru near the southern Ecuadorian border]

Flower Size .5” [1.25 cm]

Found in Cajamarca department of Peru at elevations of 2200 to 2830 meters as a medium sized, cold growing, monopodial terrestrial with braching, arising from the subapical node of the previous stem cane-like, terete, thin, progressively shorter stems carrying 6 to 11, all along the apical half of the stem, subcoriaceous, lanceolate-oblong, slightly bilobed margin, crenulate leaves that blooms in the summer and again in the winter on a terminal, racemose, occuring only once, distichous, suberect, peduncle very short, filiform, rachis unornamented, simultaneously 2 to 3 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular-lanceolate, acuminate floral bracts and carrying non-resupinate, greenish purple turning purple brown with age flowers with a cream colored lip.

"Epidendrum oripicoranense belongs to the GROUP Elleanthoides SUBGROUP Rhombochilum which is characterized by the thin, branching habit, narrow, short, subcoriaceous leaves with a crenulate margin and unequally bilobed apex, racemose, sub-distichous, short inflorescence with successive flowers, the entire lip embracing the column. The species is recognized by the tall plants producing new stems sub-apically from the older stems, leaves lanceolate-oblong, short, .24 to .92" [.6 to 2.3 cm] long; inflorescence sub-sessile with 2 to 3 greenish purple flowers, sepals .2 to .24" [5 to 6 mm] long, column geniculate with respect to the ovary and strongly arched upwards. This species has been previously confused with Epidendrum spasmosum (Santiago, 2004) which is vegetatively very similar, but flowers are white, the apices of the sepals tinged pink, sepals .3 to .368" [7.5 to 9.2 mm] long, column straight with respect to the ovary and the margin of the lateral lobes of the lip erose (the original description of that species is a combination of that species and the species here described as new). Epidendrum rhodanthum Hágsater & Dodson from northern Ecuador has 4 to 8 pink colored flowers, sepals .34" [8.5 mm] long and the lip transversely elliptic with a minute apicule." Hagsater etal 2010

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1365 Hagsater & Santiago 2010 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1387 Hagsater & Santiago 2010 See recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 14 Plate 1497 Hagsater & Santiago 2013 See recognition section;

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