Encyclia calamaria (Lindl.) Pabst 1972 Photo courtesy of Jay Pfahl.

Common Name The Reed-Like Epidendrum

Flower Size 1 1/5" [3 cm]

A small sized, hot to cool growing, Brazilian and Venezuelan, cockleshell, matforming epiphyte on thick branches or main trunks of trees at elevations of 220 to 600 as well as around 1400 meters with fusiform to spindle shaped, slightly compressed, glossy green psuedobulbs that has 2 to 3 towards the apex, ligualte to narrowly oblanceolate obtuse or subacute leaves and blooms in the Brazilian fall on a terminal, 1 3/4 to 2 2/5" [2 to 4 cm] long, racemose, densly few flowered inflorescence arising on a mature pseudobulb that holds the 4 to 7, non-resupinate flowers close to the leaves.

The epiteths E pipio and E punctiferum are still often used and describe more trowel-shaped, pointed lips and in the case of E pipio only 2 to 3 flowers and E punctiferum has a 3 to 8 cm long inflorescence with much larger flowers than the typical E calamaria.

Synonyms Anacheilium calamarium (Lindl.) Pabst 1981, Moutinho & A.V. Pinto 1981; Anacheilium punctiferum [Rchb.f] Barros 1983; Encyclia organense [Rolfe] Pabst 1967; Encyclia pipio {Rchb.f] Pabst 1967; Encyclia punctifera [Rchb.f] Pabst 1967; *Epidendrum calamarium Lindley 1838; Epidendrum calamarium var brevifolium Cogn. 1898; Epidendrum calamarium var latifolium Cogn. 1898; Epidendrum calamarium var longifolium Cogn. 1898; Epidendrum organense Rolfe 1898; Epidendrum pipio Rchb.f 1856; Epidendrum punctiferum Rchb.f 1881; Hormidium calamarium [Lindl.] Breiger 1961; Prosthechea calamaria [Lindl.] Higgins 1997; Prosthechea pipio [Rchb.f] Higgins 1997; Prosthechea punctifera [Rchb.f] Higgins 1997

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Orchids of the High Mountain Atlantic Rainforest in SE Brazil Warren & Miller 1994;