Epidendrum apaganum Mansf. 1928 GROUP Difforme TYPE Drawing by © M Lopez R, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website

Common Name The Soft Epidendrum [refers to the plants limp-feel when held]

Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]

Found only in *northern Peru in lowland forests at elevations around 120 meters as a small sized, hot growing epiphyte with an erect to pendant, simple, ancipitous, leafy all along the stem completely enveloped by imbricate, leaf-bearing sheaths and each carrying a single, light green, 4 to 6, smooth, somewhat lustrous, elliptic, basally clasping, rigid, sharply keeled, obtuse, unequally bilobed apically leaves that blooms in the spring through summer on a terminal, without a basal spathe, short, 1 to 4 flowered inflorescence much shorter than the ovary, ovate, acute floral bracts and carrying resupinate, green flowers.

"Epidendrum apaganum belongs to the GROUP Difforme which is characterized by the caespitose, sympodial plants, fleshy, pale green to glaucous leaves, apical inflorescence, sessile, rarely with a short peduncle, one to many-flowered and then corymbose, without spathaceous bracts, fleshy, green to yellowish-green rarely white flowers. The species is recognized by its laterally compressed stems, sheaths wide, infundibuliform, ancipitose, elliptic leaves to 3.2" [8.0 cm] long, 1 to 3 flowers, petals .52 to .56" [14 to 15 mm] long, linear-oblanceolate, 3-lobed lip, the disc with numerous prominent, thickened, radiating veins; the lateral lobes ovate, entire, oblique, at a 45° angle, mid-lobe smaller than the lateral lobes, triangular, emarginate, forming a right angle." Hagsater etal 2016

*Eric Hagsater has found in his research that this species only occurs in northern Peru and all other collections represent other species within the difforme group.

Synonyms Neolehmannia apagana (Mansf.) Garay & Dunst.1976

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Venezuelan Orchids Vol 2 Dunsterville & Garay 1961 drawing not = E yaracuyense; Flora de Venezuela Volumen 15 Parte 3 Foldats 1970 as B - E difforme drawing ok; Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 9 513 - 576 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1977 as E difforme ssp apaganum; Orchids of Venezuela An Illustrated Field Guide Vol 2 Dunsterville & Garay 1979 as Neolehmannia apagana not = E yaracuyense; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 560 Vasquez & Dodson 1982 as Neolehmannia apagana drawing fide The Orchids of Surinam Werkhoven 1986 as Neolehmannia apagana photo fide; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 460 Dodson 1989 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 170 Hagsater 1993 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum Peruviarum Plate 468 Bennett & Christenson 1998 see comments; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 306 Hagsater 1999 see recognition section; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Lieferung 42/3 2001 as Neolehmannia apagana; Orchids of Bolivia Vol 2 Laelinae Vasquez and Ibisch 2004 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 788 Hagsater 2004 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 827 Hagsater 2006 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 842 Hagsater 2006 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 896 Hagsater 2006 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum Part 12 Plate 1254 Hagsater 2009 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum Part 13 Plate 1380 Hagsater 2010 recognition section; Las Orquideas del Peru Izerskyy & Bezverhov 2011 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [2] Plate 1584 Hagsater & Sanchez 2016 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 16(1): t. 1602 Hagsater etal 2018 drawing fide;

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