Epidendrum colombianum A.D.Hawkes 1957 GROUP Andean SUBGROUP Renilabium
Photo by Ron Parsons and his Flowershots Website
Drawing by M Lopez R. and The AMO Herbaria Website
Common Name The Colombian Epidendrum
Flower Size 1.2" [3 cm]
Found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia on the eastern slope of the Andes at elevations of 1350 to 3250 meters as a large to giant sized, cool to cold growing terrestrial with cane-like, branching subapically, basally terete, laterally compressed towards the apex, erect, straight, main stem much taller than the branches, carrying 15 to 18 on the main stem, 5 to 10 on the branches, all along the stems, erect-spreading, alternate, articulate, coriaceous, oblong to oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, slightly bilobed, margin entire leaves that blooms at most any time of the year on a terminal, racemose, nutant, peduncle short, laterally compressed, successively 12 to 15 flowered inflorescence with much smaller than the ovary, narrowly triangular, acuminate, amplexicaul floral bracts and carrying resupinate, very fleshy, green turning orange yellow with age, non fragrant flowers.
Hagsater in his assessment of the species in Icones Orchidacearum 12 Plate 1225 Hagsater 2009 included E andersonii as a synonym but in a personal communication [5 2017] he stated "that is what we thought 8 years ago based on herbarium specimens, but now that I have seen live material in flower again in Ecuador, I am not too sure and would like to discuss this with Elizabeth Santiago, but we have not gotten down to it." I have had the 2 species separate all along.
"Epidendrum colombianum belongs to the GROUP Andean SUBGROUP Renilabium which is characterized by the tall plants, monopodial habit, generally large, bilobed leaves, racemose inflorescence, entire to 3-lobed lip with a channel at the base between the calli. The species is recognized by the oblong to oblong-lanceolate leaves up to 8" {20 cm] long, nutant, short inflorescence to 2" [5 cm] long, fleshy, hanging, green to yellow-orange, non-fragrant flowers, partly spreading sepals and petals .56 to .8" {14 to 20 mm] long, reniform lip with a pair of laminar small calli. Epidendrum pazii Hágsater has elliptic leaves up to 3.6" [9 cm] long, fragrant flowers, the lip with a pair of well-separated, parallel, laminar calli. Epidendrum renilabioides Hágsater & Dodson, which is found up to the northern border of Ecuador, has externally purplish brown flowers, petals and lip greenish, the calli and the column white, petals are elliptic-spatulate, the apex obtuse, and the callus of the lip is “Y” shaped, with the lip apiculate, not emarginate." Hagsater etal 2009
Synonyms *Epidendrum brachystele Schltr. 1924; Epidendrum brachysteloides Hágsater 1992
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Orquídea (Méx.) 12(2) 296 1992 as E brachysteloides; Orquídea (Méx.) 13(1-2): 215-218.Hagsater 1993; Icones Orchidacearum 12 Plate 1225 Hagsater 2009 drawing fide; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 drawing/photo fide;
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
