Epidendrum citrinanthum Hágsater 2018 GROUP Frutex
LCDP Photo by E. Hágsater & C. Álvarez/TYPE Photo © by Eric Hagsater and The AMO Herbario Website
Common Name The Yellow Flowered Epidendrum
Flower Size .2" [5 mm]
Found in Azuay and Loja provinces of Ecuador on hard sandstone with Sphagnum moss, and Puya sp. sparsely reforested with pine trees at elevations around 3000 to 3100 meters as a medium sized, cold growing terrestrial with the primary stem to 20" [50 cm] tall, terete, totally covered by sheathes of the leaves; secondary stems much shorter, produced from the nodes of the upper half of the stems, and these producing increasingly shorter stems all carrying numerous per stem ca. 6 remaining at flowering on the primary stem, to as few as 2 to 3 on the shorter branches; with a tubular, striated, rugose, wine-red to yellow-brown leaf sheath base; blade articulate, parallel to and adnate to the stem, imbricated, coriaceous, lanceolate-oblong, apex narrowly rounded, surface rugose, green, margin minutely and irregularly crenulate, especially towards the apex, spreading leaves that blooms in the fall on a terminal, without a spathe, peduncle up to .4 x .04" [1.0 x 0.1 cm], erect, terete; rachis .32 x .04" [0.8 x 0.1 cm], zig-zag, very compact, minutely pustulate ca. .72" [1.8 cm] long overall, very short, the inflorescence appearing usually sessile, apical, from both primary and secondary stems, racemose, arching-nutant successively 2 to 3, 2 to 7 flowered inflorescence with progressively shorter, triangular, acuminate, embracing, yellow, minutely dotted red floral bracts and carrying sulphur yellow, concolor flowers without fragrance.
"Epidendrum citrinanthum belongs to the GROUP Frutex recognized by the caepitose habit, usutally simple stems, lanceolate leaves, inflorescence lacking spathes, nutant racemes, and a widely cordiform to reniform lip and the SUBGROUP Leptanthum which is caracterized by the thin stems, scarecely branched when mature, leaves short, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate oblong, nearly parallel to the stem, inflorescence arching-nutant, apical and lateral in mature stems, racemose to paniculate, few-flowered. The species is recognized by the very thin erect stems, .08 to .12" [2 to 3 mm] in diameter, leaves .28 to .56 x .08 to .16" [0.7-1.4 x 0.2-0.4 cm], erect, adnate to the stem, inflorescence very compact, arching-nutant of up to 7 successive sulphur yellow flowers, sepals .18 to .2" [4.5 TO 5 mm] long, the lip widely reniform, lacking cny callus, with a low tape-like thickening, disappearing at the middle of the disc. It resembles Epidendrum papallactense which is larger in every way, stems 18.4 to 28" [46 to 70 cm] long, somewhat laterally compressed, leaves3 to 5.2" x .56 to .8" [7.5 to 14 x 1.4 to 2.0 cm], flowers blue to black, lip green to black, column green, lip widely reniform, base truncate, embracing the column, with a “Y” shaped callus. Epidendrum lepthanthum Hágsater , from the same area, has thin stems to 16" [40 cm] tall, narrowly lanceolate leaves 1.04 to 3.2" x .16 to .28" [2.6 to 8.0 x 0.4 to 0.7 cm], the inflorescence with the peduncle sub-erect, ca. .88" [2.2 cm] long, arching-nutant raceme with successive, cretaceous, greenish white flowers, delicate in substance, sepals .32 to .336" [8.0 to 8.4 mm] long, the lip deeply and widely cordiform, .24 x .26" [6.0 x 6.5 mm], embracing the column, and callus “W” shaped. Epidendrum harlingii Hágsater & Dodson has sub-spreading leaves 2.16 to 4.84" x .28 to .48" [5.4 to 12.1 x 0.7 t1.2 cm], inflorescence is paniculate, erect, spreading, flowers yellowish green to brown-violet, lip somewhat spreading, not embracing the column, widely cordiform, base nearly truncate, and a callus “Y” shaped." Hagsater etal 2018
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;*Icones Orchidacearum 16[2] Plate 1670 Hagsater & Sanchez 2018 drawing/photo fide;
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