IOSPE PHOTOS

Epidendrum buenaventurae F. Lehm. & Kraenzl. 1899 GROUP Nocturnum SUBGROUP Nocturnum

Drawing by Hagsater & Jimenez and The AMO Herbaria Website

Common Name The Buenaventura Epidendrum [A town on the Pacific coast of Colombia]

Flower Size 3.6” [9 cm]

Found in Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia in Pacific lowlands and coastal mangoves at elevations of sea level to 1400 meters as a small sized, hot to cool growing epiphyte or lithophyte with simple, cane-like, laterally compressed stems carrying 3 to 7, all along the apical half of the stem, coriaceous, elliptic-lanceolate, bilobed apically, dorsally carinate, green above, red purple beneath leaves that blooms at most any time of the year on a terminal erect, racemose to pluri-racemose, successively single, several flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acute floral bracts and carrying resupinate, slightly fragrant flowers with the tepals greenish brown to yellowish green, the lip and the column white, the apical half of the the midlobe of the lip can be yellow as well as the calli.

"Epidendrum buenaventurae belongs to the GROUP Nocturnum which is characterized by lhe sympodial, caespitose plants, short, racemose or pluri-racemose inflorescence, without spalhaceous bracts, usually large, star-shaped flowers, with similar sepals and petals, and the SUBGROUP Nocturnum which has cane-like stems, non-thickened towards the middle, and usually successive flowers; the flowers are mostly indistinguishable in shape. The species can be recognized by the laterally compressed stems, leaves green on lhe upper-side, purple on the back-side, sepals and petals greenish brown to yellowlsh green, lip and column while, the midlobe rarely with the apical half yellow, calli yellow; lip 3-lobed, the lateral lobes with numerous, thickened veins, short ovary 1.4 to 2" [35 to 50 mm long), the body short, .8 to 1.2" [20 to 30 mm] long, about half as long as the ovary and in the middle. It is very similar to Epidendrum nocturnum Jacq. which is widely distributed, and has terete stems, the leaves green on both sides, and the body of the capsule occupying nearly the whole length of the ovary which is 1.8 to 2.48" [45 to 62 mm] long. Epidendrum angustilobum Fawc. & Rendle (syn: Epidcndrum latifolium (Lindl.) Garay & Sweet) ranges widely in the Antilles, Colombia, Venezuela and the Guyanas, and is rare in Costa Rica and Panama, it has widely ancipitose stems, proportionately wide leaves .8 to 2.8" [2 to 7 cm] wide, green colored, and a long ovary 4.8 to 8" [120 to 200 mm] with the short body of the capsule located above the middle. Epidendrum mesocarpum Hágsater grows at higher elevations [900 to 2000 meters allitude] in southern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, has widely ancipitose stems, dark green leaves, and a long ovary 4.8 to 6.4" [120 to 160 mm], with the elongate body of the capsule located slightly above the middle of the ovary. Epidendrum campyloglosslum P.Ortíz & Hágsater is endemic to the Pacific coast of Colombia near Buenaventura, has ancipitose stems, acute leaves, green on both sides, lateral lobes of the lip obovate, rounded and truncate, wilh the midlobe recurved in natural position." Hagsater etal 2008

Synonyms Epidendrum nocturnum var. panamense Schltr. 1922

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