Epidendrum camilae Collantes et Hágsater 2019 GROUP Diothonea
LCDP Photo by © B. Collantes & A. Cisneros /TYPE Photo by © B. Collantes and AMO Herbaria Website
LATE 
Common Name Camila's Epidendrum [In honor of Camila Meza Yllpa (1930-), born in the district of Yauri, Espinar, Cuzco, mother of the first author, for her support in a lifetime dedicated to nature and its biodiversity]
Flower Size .4" [1 cm]
Found in Urubamba province of southern Peru, on the upper slopes of the Cordillera of the Andes in the Santuario Histórico de Machu Picchu on Polylepis pauta , at elevations around 2910 meters as a small sized, cold growing epiphyte with new stems generated from a middle internode of the previous stem, stems cane-like, terete, thin, straight stems carrying 8 to 13, distributed throughout the stem, only 2 to 6 present towards the apex of the stem at flowering, distichous, articulate, sub-coriaceous; bracts tubular, striated; blade linear-lanceolate, apex sub-obtuse to sub-acute, conspicuously minutely apiculate leaves that blooms in the late spring on a terminal, without a spathe, peduncle 1 to 1.2"x .04" [25 to 30 x 1 mm] racemose, short, pendulous, at anthesis successive from the base of the inflorescence, densely 7 to 10, flowered, inflorescence with covering 2/3 of the ovary, the basal ones longer, shorter towards the apex, narrowly triangular, embracing, margin scarcely papillose, the papillae conical floral bracts and carrying resupinate flowers with the sepals and petals pale green, purple towards the margins with the margin pale green, lateral lobes of lip pale green, lip mid-lobe pale green, the margin suffused pale green to pale purple, column pale green, dorsally towards the apex pale purple, anther pale green, with the center dark purple, fragrance a combination of vanilla and urine yum!
"Epidendrum camilae belongs to the GROUP Diothonea which is characterized by the branching plants, linear lanceolate to oblong, bilobed leaves, racemose, arching-nutant inflorescence, membranaceous flowers (rarely fleshy), the entire to 3-lobed, ecallose lip with the margin erose without or with 1 to 10 thin, smooth to erose ribs, the column completely to obliquely united to the lip. The new species has leaves to 3.2" [8 cm] long, sepals dorsally prominently conically to sub-conically uncinate, lip 3-lobed, base narrowly saccate with the column, within the column with a pair of prominent laminar winged ribs attached to the sides, and with a prominent laminar mid-rib at the bottom of the sac, outline like a bell-shaped curve, all this hidden by the column; free portion of lip flat, 3-lobed, ecallose, margin erose, formed by lateral lobes dolabriform, semi-orbicular, mid-lobe transversely reniform, forming two shallow, curved lobules, apex emarginate. Epidendrum astetei Hagsater, Collantes & Mormontoy is very similar but has shorter leaves, to 5.8 cm long, also has prominently uncinate sepals, lip nearly totally united to the column, 3-lobed, basally sac-like; disc with two pairs of blade-like ribs, the inner pair well developed, sigmoid-folded, with the anterior borders visible below the apex of the column as a pair of folded calli, with a prominent hemi-cordate mid-rib hidden in between the inner sides of the inner pair; the basal pair smaller in size, sigmoid, transversely sub-rectangular, sub-retuse. Epidendrum trachypentatropis Hágsater & E.Santiago has small reddish flowers, dorsally muricate sepals .22 to .228" [5.5 to 5.7 mm] long, and the sack-like lip nearly totally united to the column, with 5 prominent, unequal, flat, laminar keels hidden below the column. Epidendrum trachysepalum Hágsater has up to 9 to 11, pale pink to yellowish brown flowers with wine-red veins, the sepals are strongly muricate, the lip totally free from the column and is adorned with 3 thin, ribs at the base of the lip, the lateral pair is “U” shaped, and the mid-rib only appears on the disc, so on the disc it appears to be 5-ribbed." Hagsater etal 2019
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 17(1) Plate 1709 Hagsater & Jimenez 2019 drawing/photo fide
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