Epidendrum bracteostigma Hágsater & García-Cruz 1999 GROUP Ramosum SUBGROUP Platystigma

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

LATE

Common Name The Large Floral Bract Epidendrum

Flower Size 1.2" [3 cm]

Found in Costa Rica in cloud forests at elevations of 1500 to 1600 meters as a giant sized, cool growing epiphtye with a branching, cane-like, terete stem carrying all along the main stem, deciduous when branched, branches persistent, smaller, both coriaceous, elliptic-lanceolate, retuse leaves that blooms in the late spring on a terminal, arising from the branches, racemose, distichous, erect, 2.4 to 3.6" [ 6 to 9 cm] long, short, terete, slightly sinuous inflorescence with 1, conduplicate, widely ovate, obtuse bract and conduplicate, much longer than the ovary, ovate-oblong, acute floral bacts and carrying 4 to 6, simultaneously opening flowers.

Known only from the type, this species is characterized by the narrowly elliptic-lanceolate leaves and the very prominent floral bracts.

"Epidendrum bracteostigma is part of the GROUP Ramosum SUBGROUP Platystigma characterized by the monopodial, erect plants with a clear primary stem, branching occurs from the axil of the leaves, producing short, few, small leaved branches, and these produce successive, short branches from a subapical internode, thus an old plant has numerous branches, these progressively made of fewer elements, and often lacking the juvenile, long leaves, at this stage the plant attains full flowering and often dies. The species is closely related to Epidendrum platystigma and can be recognized by the large plants with elliptic-lanceolate leaves, secondary and tertiary branches 2 to 3.6" x .6 to 1.2" [5 to 9 x 1.5 to 3 cm], the floral bracts ovate-oblong, 1 to 1.4" [2.5 to 3.5 cm] long, sepals narrowly triangular to lanceolate, strongly keeled, lip entire, cordiform, acute. The latter has narrow leaves, floral bracts shorter, sepals and petals ovate-elliptic, lip subtriangular." Hagsater etal 1999

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 316 Hagsater 1999 drawing fide; Manual de las Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003;

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