Epidendrum coconucoense Hágsater, E.Santiago & Uribe Vélez 2018 GROUP Pseudepidendrum SUBGROUP Porphyreum
Photo by © Carlos Uribe/TYPE drawing by R. Jiménez M. © courtesy of Eric Hagsater and The AMO Herbario Website
Common Name The Coconuco Epidendrum [A place near el Vulcan de Purace]
Flower Size .8" [2 cm]
Found in Cauca department of Colombia at elevations of 2500 to 2800 meters as a giant sized, cold growing terrestrial or epiphyte with simple, cane-like, terete stems carrying 11 to 13, distributed along the upper half of the stem, alternate, articulate, erect-spreading; sheaths tubular, minutely striated; blade oblong-lanceolate to oblong-elliptic, sub-acute, sub-coriaceous, margin entire, deep green, concolor or ventrally tinged purple leaves that blooms in the summer and fall on a terminal, without a spathe, peduncle 4.4" [11 cm] long, straight, provided with several, tubular, imbricating bracts, paniculate, erect, 12" [30 cm] long, densely, simultaneously 120 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acuminate, clasping floral bracts and carrying resupinate flowers.
"Epidendrum coconucoënse belongs to the GROUP Pseudepidendrum which is characterized by the caespitose habit, un-branched stems, apical, branched inflorescence, no true spathaceous bract, and the flowers with a long, thin column, a 3-lobed lip with the mid-lobe generally bifid and divaricate, and filiform petals, and SUBGROUP Porphyreum which has variously colored flowers, not green with the apex of the column and lip white. The species is recognized by the small, fleshy, pink flowers the sepals and lip unevenly blotched purple, especially the disc of the lip, sepals .44 to .48" [11 to 12 mm] long. Epidendrum falsiloquum has smaller, ochre-yellow flowers, the lip white, with 3 to 5 purple lines over the ribs of the disc, sepals .28 to .32" [7 to 8 mm] long. Epidendrum arnoldii Schltr. has even colored purple-pink flowers, the disc and calli pink to white, sepals .32 to .4" [8 to 10 mm] long, the lip convex in natural position. Epidendrum laeve Lindl. is very similar, but the basal lobes of the lip dolabriform-falcate, and the apical-lobe slightly arching upwards, not convex in natural position. Epidendrum peraltum Schltr. has somewhat larger flowers with sepals .56 to .64" [14 to 16 mm] long, colored greenish yellow to a dirty pink, the lip spreading in natural position, with the lateral lobes strongly retrorse, and the mid-lobe forming a pair of divaricate, linear lobes. Epidendrum porphyreum Lindl. has purple flowers with the disc white, sepals .52 to .6" [13 to 15 mm] long, the lateral lobes of the lip ovate-dolabriform, not retrorse, and the mid-lobe is formed by a pair of triangular lobes." Hagsater etal 2018
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidacearum 16(1): t. 1610 Hagsater etal 2018 drawing/photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 18(2) Plate 1856 Hagsater & Jimenez 2021 see recogntion section; Icones Orchidacearum 18(2) Plate 1868 & 1868a Hagsater & Jimenez 2021
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