Epidendrum allenii L.O.Williams 1941 GROUP Alberti SUBGROUP Allenii

Photos by Franco Pupulin and the Epidendra Website ©

Part Sun Warm cool LATERSummer THROUGH MIDWinter

Common Name Allen's Epidendrum [American Botanist mostly in Panama 1900's]

Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]

Found in Costa Rica, Panama and Ecuador in wet forests at elevations of 600 to 1200 meters as a small to medium sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, basally terete, becoming laterally compressed and ancipitous towards the apex stems carrying 5 to 9, distributed along the stem, alternate, suberect, longlasting, subcoriaceous, elliptic to lanceolate, acute to shortly acuminate, entire marginally, dark green, the under side and sometimes the apex tinged reddish, articulate below into the base leaves that blooms in the later summer through mid winter on a terminal, erect, distichous, racemose at first flowering then producing new racemes within the dark green, generally 1, lanceolate-ovate, acute, tubular basally, conduplicate towards the apex, ancipitous spathaceous bract, becoming pluriracemose, elongate, laterally compressed, ancipitose, two winged, prominent towards the base becoming narrower at the apex, terete, thin, short, 3 to 17 flowered inflorescence with shorter than the ovary, elliptic-ovate, obtuse, conduplicate, imbricating, persistent even after flowering floral bracts and carrying successively opening flowers.

" Epidendrum allenii belongs to the GROUP Alberti which is characterized by the sympodial habit, laterally compressed to ancipitose or somewhat fusiform-thickened stems, the apical or apical and lateral racemose, distichous inflorescence more or less with imbricating bracts on the peduncle, producing one flower at a time, and the SUBGROUP Allenii which is characterized by the stems with numerous leaves, the apical inflorescence (rarely lateral), peduncle elongate, bare non-bract bearing, two-winged, the rachis short, covered by rounded, usually imbricating bracts. The species is recognized by the elliptic to lanceolate, acute to shortly acuminate, deep green leaves, the underside and sometimes the apex tinged reddish, the inflorescence with an elongate peduncle, two-winged, the wings progressively shorter, pale pink to greenish sepals and petals, the lip white, obscurely 3-lobed, .4 to .48 x .49 to .6" [10 to 12 x 12 to 15 mm] with the midlobe short and shortbilobed. Epidendrum jefeallenii Hágsater & García-Cruz has narrower .2 to .72" [0.5 to 1.8 cm] wide, linear-lanceolate, long acuminate, pale green leaves, the lip generally cordiform, with a pair of obscure sinii at the apex. Epidendrum panamense Schltr. has somewhat smaller plants 3.6 to 8.4" [9 to 21 cm] tall, narrower, lanceolate leaves .32 to .68" [0.8 to 1.7 cm] wide, the sepals oblanceolate with the margin spreading, and the lip entire, widely ovate-cordíform small; 1.4 to 2" x 1.4 to 2.28" [3.5-5 x 3.5 to 5.7 mm]. Epidendrum maduroi Hágsater & Carcía-Cruz is vegetatively very similar, but the plants somewhat larger, the leaves elliptic-lanceolate, 5.2 to 9.2" x .72 to 1-16" [13 to 23 x 1.8 to 2.9 cm], and the lip small, entire, subreniform overall, .2 to .264" x .24 to .32" [5 to 6.6 x 6 to 8 mm]" Hagsater etal 2007

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; The Orchids of Panama L.O. Williams & P Allen 1946 drawing fide; Ceiba Vol 5 No 1 L O Williams 1956; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 338 Hagsater & Sanchez 1999 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 4 plate 493 Hagsater & Sanchez 2001 see recognition section; Manual de las Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003; Vanishing Beauty, Native Costa Rican Orchids Vol 1 Pupulin 2005 photo fide; Orquideas de la Serrania del Baudo Cho Colombia Misas 2005 drawing/photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 905 Hagsater & Santiago 2007 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 952 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 971 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 14 Plate 1489 Hagsater & Santiago 2013 See recognition section; Orchids of the Darien Gap Kolanowska 2014 drawing fide; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 drawing fide;

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