Epidendrum platyoon Schltr. 1921 GROUP Megalospathum

TYPE Drawing by © Schlechter

Common Name The Broad? Epidendrum

Flower Size 1.2" [3 cm]

Found in Cusco Peru at elevations of 2700 to 3100 meters as a small sized, cold growing caespitose epiphyte with simple to few branched, canelike, erect, straight, thin stems enveloped almost completely by subinflated foliaceous sheaths and carrying all along the stems, alternate, articulate, ligulate to oblong-ligulate, unequally obtusely bilobed, fleshy, glabrous, abruptly constricted at the conduplicate sub-petiolate base leaves that blooms in the fall on a terminal, sessile, apparently [successively?] single flowered inflorescence arising through a conspicuous, conduplicate, elliptic, acute spathe and with much shorter than the ovary, small floral bracts and carrying a large, fleshy, greenish flower.

Epidendrum platyoon is part of GROUP Megalospathum characterized by the caespitose but branching habit, many leafed stem, fleshy, oblique leaves a short few flowered racemose inflorescence subtended by a large semi-ovate spathe carrying a few resupinate flowers with the column obliquely united to the lip, occasionally free. Some authors cite E platyoon as a synonym of E. scutella but E platyoon most likely has a single flowered inflorescence with a pair of small calli that do not terminate in 3 keels instead of a 4 to 7 flowered inflorescence with calli that terminate in 3 keels. Hagsater in Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1559 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 places this species as a synonym of E scutella, Kew still has it as separate.

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 9: 91 Peru Schlechter 1921; Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. Figuren-Atlas 57: 464 Schlechter 1929 drawing ok; Icones Orchidacearum Peruviarum Plate 646 Bennett & Christenson 2001 drawing not = E rhomboscutellum; Machu Picchu Orchids Christenson 2003; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1559 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 as a synonym of E scutella

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------