Epidendrum barbaricum Hágsater & Dodson 2001 GROUP Pseudepidendrum SUBGROUP Paniculatum
Photo by © Gary Yong Gee and The Yong Gee Name Website
TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
Common Name The Santa Barbara de Sucumbios Epidendrum [A locality in northern Ecuador]
Flower Size .8" [2 cm]
Found in Ecuador at elevations 2700 to 2800 meters as a large to giant sized, cold growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, terete, erect stems carrying on the upper 2/3's of the stem, elliptic, violet spotted, acute, entire marginally, articulate below into the base leaves that blooms in the winter through spring on a terminal, paniculate, erect, occuring only once, 12 to 14" [30 to 35 cm] long, to 200 flowered inflorescence arising on a mature stem, with 2, acuminate, conduplicate bracts and much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acuminate floral bracts and carrying simultaneously opening, resupinate flowers.
"Epidendrum barbaricum belongs to the GROUP Pseudepidendrum SUBGROUP Paniculatum characterized by the caespitose habit with cane-like stems carrying acute to acuminate leaves usually booming on an apical inflorescence and carrying flowers with filiform petals, and a usually 3 lobed lip with 3 parallel fleshy keels, with the apical lobe often bifurcate and the "bird wing" type pollina. The species is similar to E. porphyreum Lindl. but flowers smaller, not as fleshy, and reddish violet, cerise; the panicle is large, many-flowered and not as dense as in E. porphyreum which has larger, fleshier flowers, and a compact inflorescence. Epidendrum atacazoicum Schltr. is immediately recognizable by its crowded, compact, pyramid-shaped inflorescence, and the flowers with a relatively oversized lip, the sepals are .36 to .4" [8.5 to 10 mm] long the lip .36 to .52" [9 to 13 mm] wide, being wider at the apical lobes, and only found on the western slopes of the Andes in central and southern Ecuador. The calli are somewhat similar to those of E. embreei Dodson, the orange-flowered species. Epidendrum peraltum Schltr. which is found on the Pacific slope of the Andes at the same latitude, has dirty pink flowers, with prominent, somewhat retrorse lateral lobes of the lip. Epidendrum laeve Lindl. has somewhat larger flowers, the lateral lobes of the lip somewhat retrorse and the calli shorter and more globose." Hagsater etal 2001
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidacearum 4 plate 416 Hagsater & Sanchez 2001 drawing fide; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 photo fide;
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