Epidendrum celicense Hágsater & Dodson 2004 GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Diothonea

Photo by © Alexander Hirtz

TYPE Drawing

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

LATER EARLY

Common Name The Celica Epidendrum [A town in Ecuador where the species is found]

Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]

Found in southwestern Ecuador on the western slopes of the Andes in secondary forests and scrub at elevations of 2200 to 3000 meters as a giant sized, cold growing terrestrial or epiphyte with erect, cane-like, terete, branching from the internodes near the apex of the previous stem and carrying 4 to 6 all along the apical 1/2 of the stem, alternate, narrowly oblong-lanceolate, truncate bilobed, margin entire to minutely crenulate leaves that blooms in the later summer to early fall on a terminal, racemose, arching, terete, 2" to 3" [5 to 7.5 cm] long, densely many flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acute floral bracts and carrying to 30, simultaneously opening, resupinate, honey colored to purple flowers with a lip that is veined in purple.

"Epidendrum celicense is part of GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Diothonea characterized by the branching plants linear-lanceolate to oblong leaves the apex bilobed, racemose, arching-nutant inflorescence, membranaceous, rarely fleshy flowers, the entire to 3-lobed, ecallose lip with the margin erose and with or without 1 to 10 thin, smooth to erose keels, the column completely free to obliquely united to the lip, the anther reniform. The new species is recognized by the long, oblong, truncate leaves, the short, dense inflorescence with up to 30 flowers, honey colored, the lip with purple veins, sepals and petals .376 to .52" [9.4 to 14 mm] long, the petals trullate, the column sigmoid .24 to .28" [6 to 7 mm] long, the reniform lip united to the column, cordate base, with 5 narrow, smooth, thin keels. It is similar to Epidendrum diothonaeoides, which has lanceolate leaves, a lax-flowered inflorescence with up to 13 fleshy flowers, sepals .72 to 1" [18 to 25 mm] long, the 3 keels at the base of the lip are thickened and low, and the column is .4 to .48" [10 to 12 mm] long. Epidendrum allisonii Hágsater & Dodson has narrowly lanceolate leaves, a lax, 10 flowered inflorescence, the flowers large and fleshy, sepals .52 to .72" [13 to 18 mm] long, ovate petals, the reniform lip truncate at the base, with 6 to 7 thin, erose keels, the three central ones thickened so that the lip appears three-callous, and the column is .32 to .36" [8 to 9 mm] long." Hagsater etal 2004

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidaceaum 7 Plate 720 Hagsater & Salazar 2004 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 8 Plate 828 Hagsater & Sanchez 2006 see recognition section; Orquideologia VOl 24 #2 2005 photo fide

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