LCDP Photo by F. Tobar & A. Cisneros/ Photo by J. J. Donoso and The AMO Herbario Website
Common Name The Tundayme Cirrhatum Epidendrum [refers to the locality of the species and the two apical lobes of the mid-lobe of the lip]
Flower Size .5" [1.25 cm]
Found in Zamora-chinchipe province of Ecuador on the western slopes of the Cordillera del Cóndor, an Andean Tepui in wet tropical forest, at elevations of 1561 to 1600 meters as a small sized, cool growing epiphyte with terete, cane-like, thin, erect, simple; entirely covered by tubular, acute, scarious when dry, very thin, non-foliar sheaths and carrying 4 to 5, distributed in the apical half of the stem, erect, sub-coriaceous; blade lanceolate, acute, margin entire, extended, concolor, green leaves that blooms in the fall on a terminal, without a spathe, peduncle .84" [2.1 cm] long, short, terete, slightly thick covered by 2 to 3 unequal, imbricated, lanceolate, acute, conduplicate bracts, one longer than the other, green tinged with purple; rachis 1.32" [3.3 cm], terete, short, green, 2.56 to 2.76" [6.4 to 6.9 cm] long, racemose, successively to 8 flowered inflorescence with covering the entire ovary, progressively shorter towards the apex of the inflorescence, lanceolate to triangular, acute, embracing floral bracts and carrying non-resupinate flowers with the sepals and petals green turning to olive-green to brown, the lip and column white turning yellow and with no fragrance registered.
"Epidendrum tundaycirrhatum belongs to the GROUP Bicirrhatum , a small group of species which has appeared recently and is characterized by the caespitose habit, simple, leafy, short stems, a compact, nodding inflorescence, conspicuous bracts about as long as the ovary, numerous fleshy, green and/or white flowers with the mid-lobe deeply bilobate, the lobules sometimes cirrose, the thin pollinia, and unequal, the inner pair smaller, without being of the bird-wing-type. The new species is recognized by the green turning olive-green tepals and lip white turning yellow, sepals .36" [9 mm] long, mid-lobe of the lip cuneate at the base, and bilobed forming two uncinate, cirrose lobes which are involute in natural position. Epidendrum enantilobum Hágsater has green to cream-colored flowers; lip and column white, sepals .16 to .2" [4 to 5 mm] long sepals, lateral lobes falcate-oblong, mid-lobe forming two opposite narrow ciliate lobes. Epidendrum xelidonourum has very pale greenish white to ochre flowers; base of the sepals, petals and column green, column and lip white, lateral lobes of the lip ¼ circle, mid-lobe basal half subrectangular, slightly slimmer at the middle, apical half bilobed, lobes linear triangular, acuminate, arching-divaricate, reminiscent of the tail of barn swallows. Epidendrum brachyblastum has sepals, .24 to .272" [6.0 to 6.8 mm] long, narrow hemi-ovate lateral lobes of the lip, and deep green flowers with lip and apical half of the column snow white. Epidendrum hugomedinae Hágsater has snow-white flowers with keels of the lip tinged violet and the obcuneate mid-lobe formed by two, rounded, somewhat divergent, lobes. Epidendrum bicirrhatum D.E.Benn. & Christenson, from northern Peru, has pale cream-orange flowers with the base of the sepals and petals green, tips of the keels of the lip lavender; flowers are similarly sized, sepals being .184 to .208" [4.6 to 5.2 mm] long, lip has denticulate margins on sub-orbicular lateral lobes and cirrose lobules on mid-lobe. The Bolivian E. ophidion Dodson & Vásquez is quite similar to the latter, but has successive, yellow flowers with three purple lines on disc, pustulate sepals .24 to .32" [6 to 8 mm] long, and dolabriform lateral lobes with a crenulate margin. Epidendrum tiwinzaënse Hágsater & Dodson species has green flowers with a white lip and apical half of column, sepals some .28" [7 mm] long, and a lip terminating in a pair of cirrose lobes" Hagsater etal 2019
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 17(1) Plate 1754 Hagsater & Jimenez 2019 Drawing fide
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