Epidendrum aenigmaticum Hágsater & Dodson 2007 GROUP Alpicolum SUBGROUP Alpicolum

Plant and FlowerPhotos by © The AOS SITF Website

TYPE Drawing TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website

LATE

Common Name The Enigmatic Epidendrum

Flower Size 1/2" [1.25 cm]

Found in southern Ecuador on the Pacific coast at elevations around 2000 meters as a medium to large sized, cold growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, terete below, ancipitose above, thin, slightly flexuous stems carrying 6, along the apical half, alternate, subcoriaceous, oblong-elliptic, obtuse, prominent dorsal keel, margin entire, articulate below into the base leaves that blooms in the late summer on a terminal, occuring only once, racemose, arching-nutant, laterally compressed, thin, densely many flowered inflorescence enveloped almost completely by the 1 or 2, tubular below, conduplicate above, acute to acuminate, ancipitose spathaceous bracts and with linear-triangular, acuminate, nearly twice as long as the ovary floral bracts and carrying 26 to 60, rapidly opening in succession, from the apex towards the raceme, lip oriented towards the rachis, diurnally fragrant flowers with the tepals greenish on the bask and brown orange on the inside, a brown orange lip, and a white column.

"Epidendrum aenigmaticum belongs to the GROUP Alpicolum SUBGROUP Alpicolum which is characterized by the simple, cane-like stems, long, narrow 1 to 2 spathaceous bracts, foxtail-like inflorescence and numerous flowers with fleshy lip, triangular midlobe and roundish lateral lobes. The new species is recognized by the small flowers, ochre-orange colored inside, the lateral sepals .72 to .3" [6.8 to 7.5 mm] long, the transversely ovate-elliptic lateral lobes of the lip are upright, with the margin entire, and the midlobe is short and wide. It is similar to E tenquendamae F.Lehm. & Kraenzl. which has narrower linear-lanceolate leaves, the flowers somewhat larger and proportionately narrower, sepals .28 to .32" [7 to 8 mm] long, linear-lanceolate, .24" [6 mm] long petals, and the callus of the lip somewhal shorter. Epidendrum cornutum Lindl. is larger and proportionately narrower overall, the lateral sepals are .36 to .42" [9 to 10.5 mm] long, and the midlobe of the lip nearly .16" [4 mm] long. Many other species in this group have the margin of the lateral lobes of the lip erose with the forward corner fimbriate" Hagsater etal 2007

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 902 Hagsater & Sanchez 2007 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [2] Plate 1596 Hagsater & Sanchez 2016 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [2] Plate 1597 Hagsater & Sanchez 2016 see recognition section; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 16[2] Plate 1672 Hagsater & Sanchez 2018 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 17(2) Plate 1776 Hagsater & Jimenez 2020 see recognition section;

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