Epidendrum phyllocharis Rchb.f. 1878 GROUP Alberti SUBGROUP Alberti
Photo by © Barboza, Used under permission of Epidendra Website CR
Drawing by © F. A. Brockhaus and Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Jany Renz Herbaria Website©
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Common Name The Beautiful Leaved Epidendrum
Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]
Found in Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia in wet forests at elevations of 650 to 1850 meters as a small to medium sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, erect, basally terete, laterally compressed, ancipitous above, erect, straight stems carrying numerous, all along the stem, alternate, coriaceous, margin entire, dorsally tinged purple, narrowly elliptic, to oblong-lanceolate, rounded narrowly bilobed, articulate below into the clasping base leaves that blooms in the late spring through later winter on a terminal and several lateral, arising on the upper half of the stem, racemose, short, compact, successively single, few flowered inflorescence arising with a single or 2, at the apex of the peduncle, narrowly ovate, rounded , tubular basally, conduplicate above, ancipitous bracts, similar to the floral bracts.
"Epidendrum phyllocharis Rchb.f. 1878 is part of the GROUP Alberti SUBGROUP Alberti characterized by the caespitose habit, with numerous green to purple colored leaves, the laterally flattened stems with apical, and lateral inflorescence, the apical one with an anciptitose peduncle terminating in a conduplicate, spathaceous bract somewhat larger but similar to the floral bracts, and one to several racemes of imbricating, conduplicate, rounded, bracts which produce flowers one at a time. The species is recognized by the short apical and lateral Inflorescence with rounded floral bracts and with one or two prominent spathaceous bracts on the apical inflorescence, white or rarely pale greenish tinged with reddish, linear petals .068 to .08" [1.7 to 2 mm] wide and the pentagonal-subcircular lip with 5 to 7 radiating keels, and truncate and minutely aplculate at the apex. Epidendrum albertii Schltr. is vegetatively very similar, with similar colored flowers, but the lip is ovate-oblong with an acute apex, and the column strongly arched at the apex. Epidendrum hexagonum Hágsater & Dodson, from Ecuador, has larger plants with elllptic-oblanceolate leaves 5.2 to 7.2" [13 to 18 cm] long, green flowers with narrowly elliptic-oblanceolate petals .68 to .72" [17 to 18] mm long, and the lip with a single central keel. Epidendrum brachypodum Hágsater has pale purple flowers with relatively wide sepals and petals the petals spatulate-obtrullate, .216" [5.4 mm] wide, and the lip subrhombic-orbicular with a single prominent keel." Hagsater etal 2007
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; The Genus Epidendrum Ames 1936; Ceiba Vol 5 No 1 L O Williams 1956; Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama Dressler 1993; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 144 Hagsater & Sanchez 1993 see recognition section; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 5 COS 1994 Photo ok; Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 433 Hagsater 2001 see recognition section; Manual de las Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 715 Hagsater and Sanchez 2004 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 741 Hagsater and Sanchez 2004 see recognition section; Vanishing Beauty, Native Costa Rican Orchids Vol 1 Pupulin 2005 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 9 Plate 903 Hagsater & Sanchez 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 973 Hagsater & Sanchez 2007 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 11 Plate 1191 Hagsater 2008 see recognition section; Orchids of Costa Rica Vol 3 Morales 2009 photo fide; Orchids of the Department of Valle De Cauca Colombia Vol 2 Kolanowska, Hagsater etal. 2014 drawing fide; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 drawing hmm; Icones Orchidacearum 16[1} Plate 1649 Hagsater & Sanchez 2018 see recognition section;
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