Epidendrum caveroi D.E.Benn. & Christenson 1998 GROUP Elleanthoides SUBGROUP Rhombochilum

TYPE Drawing by © M Alcantara and the Epidendra Website

Common Name Cavero's Epidendrum [Peruvian Collector of species current]

Flower Size .8" [2 cm]

Found in Amazonas department of Peru, across the Nangaritza-Zamora River on a wet, windswept mesa with elfin vegetation in boggy areas with abundant bromeliads at elevations around 2100 meters as a medium sized, cold growing terrestrial with woody, sulcate, loosely, shortly branched, erect stems carrying many, in the upper half, elliptic, acute, sessile, basally clasping leaves that blooms in the winter on a terminal, racemose, 2" [5 cm] long including the 1" [2.5 cm] long peduncle, few flowered inflorescence with minute floral bracts and carrying greenish flowers with wine red apices to the sepals.

"Epidendrum caveroi is part of GROUP Elleanthoides SUBGROUP Rhombochilum characterized by thin, branching stems carrying narrow, grassy leaves and has a hair-thin peduncle of the inflorescence and carries successively opening, small delicate flowers The species is florally quite similar to E lembotylosum, but the leaves are elliptic, acute and short, about as wide as long, the flowers slightly larger, the sepals being .48 to .52" [12 to 13 mm] long, and the lateral sepals somewhat joined to the ventral surface of the column; it flowers in August. E lembotylosum has relatively large, successive, reddish brown-violet flowers, the cordiform lip which is somewnat concave but does not embrace the column, and the obrong, concave, pubescent callus, flowering in April. Epidendrum spasmosum Hágsater & Dodson has non-resupinate flowers, white with the apices of the sepals pink to the whole flower greenish purple, the flowers are tightly cramped, with the lip embracing the column to leave only a round aperture through which the column may be reached for pollination, with subquadrate, erose lateral lobes of the lip and a small triangular apical lobe; the petals are linear to linear-oblanceolate, with the upper margin sinuous. Epidendrum golondrinense Hágsater & Dodson has a similar habit, but somewhat different, more numerous (up to 13), smaller flowers with sepals .152" [3.8 mm] long, the lip 3-lobed, with the lateral lobes smaller than the midlobe. Epidendrum rhombochilum L. O. Williams is recognized by the triangular lip, two, lentil-shaped pollinia slit longitudinally down one side and a lanceolate dorsal sepal." Adapted from E lembotylosum Icones Plate 753 Hagsater etal 2004

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidacearum Peruviarum Plate 454 Bennett & Christenson 1998 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 753 Hagsater and Sanchez 2004 see recognition section;

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------