Epidendrum acrostigma Hágsater & García-Cruz 1999 1999 GROUP Ramosum SUBGROUP Platystigma Drawing by © Jimenez & Hagsater and The Epidendra Webpage

MID

Common Name The High Elevation Platystigma Epidendrum

Flower Size 1.2" [3 cm]

Found in Costa Rica and Panama in oak and rain forests at elevations of 1400 to 3000 meters as a giant sized, cool to cold growing epiphtye or terrestrial with a branching, cane-like, terete stem carrying numerous, narrowly elliptic, obliquely bilobed, rounded leaves that blooms in the mid winter through summer on a terminal, arising from the branches, racemose, distichous, erect to arcuate, 1.6 to 2.4 " [4 to 6 cm] long, short, laterally compressed, flexuous inflorescence with 1, conduplicate, widely oblong-ovate, obtuse bract and conduplicate, much longer than the ovary, not imbricate, widely ovate, acute floral bacts

This species is distinguished by the narrowly elliptic, obliquely bilobed leaves of the secondary and tertiary branches and the racemose inflorescence with non-imbricating floral bracts and naked rachis. The green flowers have ovate-elliptic, acute, strongly carinate sepals with the keel margin being erose, the entire, subquadrate lip that is slightly fiddle shaped, basally truncate and envelopes the column while the callus is tridentate and the column is tubular and erect.

"Epidendrum acrostigma is closely related to E. platystigma and can be recognized by the large plants with narrowly elliptic leaves, secondary and tertiary branches with leaves 1.2 to 4.8" x .28 to .8" [3 to 12 x 0.7 to 2 cm], the floral bracts .4 to .76" [1 to 1.9 cm] long, flowers whitish green, sometimes the lip tinged with red, ovary straight, lateral sepals strongly carinate, keel erose, lip subquadrate, base cordate. The latter species has longer leaves, white flowers, the lateral sepals slightly carinate and the lip subtriangular." Hagsater 1999

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidacearum 3 plate 301 Hagsater & L. Sánchez S. & J. García-Cruz 1999 drawing fide;Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 314 Hagsater & Sanchez 1999 see recognition section; Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica Volume 3 Hammel, Grayum. Herrera and Zamora 2003; Orchid Genera and Species in Guatemala Archila, Szlachchetko, Chiron, Lipinska, Mystkowska and Bertolini 2018

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

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