Epidendrum paradisicola Hágsater & García-Cruz 1999 GROUP Ramosum SUBGROUP Flexicaule

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

MID

Common Name The Canton Paraiso Epidendrum [refers to the location where the type species was collected]

Flower Size .6" [1.5 cm]

Found in the Tapanti Reserve in Cartago province of Costa Rica in tropical rainforests at elevations of 1300 to 1500 meters as a miniature to small sized, cool growing, repent epiphtye with a branching, cane-like, terete, flexuous stem that is longer than the branches, and carrying throughout the stems, subcoriaceous, narrowly lanceolate, apically bilobed, articulate below into the base leaves that blooms in the mid winter on a terminal, without a spathe, provided with a basal, ovate, obtuse bract, short, 2 to 3 flowered inflorescence with ovate-oblong, obtuse, conduplicate, slightly longer than the ovary floral bracts and carrying distichous, green flowers.

Known for its scandent, branching, repent habit, the principal stem has short, lateral branches, small narrrow leaves and 2 to 3 green flowers with .26 to .3" [6.5 to 7 mm] long sepals and a cordiform lip with a "Y" shaped callus.

"Epidendrum paradisicolum belongs to the GROUP Ramosum SUBGROUP Flexicaule charactereized by the stragling plant habit, where the main stem is not very evident, and the sepals have a dorsal keel which is generally prominent. The species is distinguished by the branched, repent habit, main stem with shorter lateral branches, the leaves short and narrow .8 to 1.8 x .16 to .36" [2 to 4.5 x 0.4 to 0.9 cm], 2 to 3 flowered distichous inflorescence, the f1owers green, small, sepals .26 to .3" [6.5 to 7.5 mm] long, cordiform lip, and short clinandrium. It is easily confused with E. stevensii which is distinguished by its larger plants, leaves 1.6 to 2.8" [4 to 7 cm] long, ovary which forms an elongate vesicle, sepals .28 to .36" [7 to 9 mm] long, triangular-cordate lip, and reduced clinandrium. Epidendrum flexicaule Schltr. also has numerous leaves 1.2 to 3.2" [3 to 8 cm] long, the ovary which forms a short vesicle, the perianth segments .36 to .48" [9 to 12 mm] long, petals .08" [2 mm] wide, ovate-cordiform lip, the apex rounded, and reduced clinandrium." Hagsater etal 1999

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 366 Hagsater & Sanchez 1999 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 425 Hagsater 2001 see recognition section; Manual de las Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003; Icones Orchidacearum 16[2] Plate 1669 Hagsater & Sanchez 2018 see recognition section;

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