Epidendrum alpicolonigrense Hágsater & Dodson 2001GROUP Alpicolum SUBGROUP Alpicolum

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

LATE EARLY

Common Name The Rio Negro Alpicolum group Epidendrum

Flower Size .32" [8 mm]

Found in Ecuador in woods at elevations around 1500 meters as a small to just medium sized, cool growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, flexous, terete stems carrying 3 to 6, narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, acuminate, grassy leaves that blooms in the late winter and early spring on an arching, racemose, terminal, foxtail-like, 1.4" [3.2 cm] long, 10 to 15 flowered inflorescence arising through a single, conduplicate, acute spathe and with very thin, as long as to somewhat longer than the ovary, acuminate floral bracts and carrying 10 to 15, the lip always oriented lowards the rachis, simultaneously opening, white flowers.

" Epidendrum alpiconigrense belongs to the GROUP Alpicolum SUBGROUP Alpicolum characterized by the simple, cane-like stems, long, narrow 1 to 3 spathaceous bracts, fox-tail-like inflorescence and numerous flowers with fleshy lip. The species is recognized by the terete stems, narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, acuminate leaves, small, white flowers, somewhat similar lobes of the lip, sinuate margin, unicallose lip, the calli prominent, fleshy and reduced clinandrium. Similar to Epidendrum zosterifolium but this has ancipitose stems, elliptic leaves, larger, green ish white flowers, with the middle near the apex of sepals and lip deep green, lobes of the lip unequal, margin entire, bicallose, midlobe about 3 times longer than wide, and the clinandrium erose and prominent. Epidendrum pucunoense Hágsater & Dodson has ancipitose stems, cream-yellow to white flowers, lobes of the lip entire, bicallose, the large orbicular lateral lobes, larger in area than the midlobe, emarginate, entire, prominent clinandrium. Epidendrum alopecurum Schltr. from Bolivia, has a large inflorescence, with smaller flowers." Hagsater etal 2001

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 406 Hagsater & Sanchez 2001 drawing fide;

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