Epidendrum coriifolium Lindl. 1851 GROUP Spathiger SUBGROUP Coriifolium
Photo by © Eric Hunt
Photo by © Weyman Bussey, plant grown by Howard Gunn
Photos by © Paul Bernardeau
Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
to
Common Name The Leather-Like Leaf Epidendrum
Flower Size 1 1/2" to 2" [4 to 5 cm]
Occuring in Costa Rica and Panama in wet subtropical montane forests at elevations of 350 to 1800 meters as a medium sized, reedstem, hot to cool growing epiphyte or terrestrial on steep slopes with a creeping rhizome, compressed, gradually increasing in size stems completely concealed by distichous, imbricating sheaths carrying a single ligulate, obliquely bilobed, conduplicate below into the base leaf that is bright green on top and purple below with a terminal, erect, to 10" [25 cm] long, fractiflex, racemose, that has few to many, fragrant [not nice] flowered inflorescence arising on a newly maturing pseudobulb with imbricating brown basal bracts and large, purple floral bracts occurring in the winter.
The leaves when crushed have a very unpleasant fragrance.
Part of the GROUP Spathiger SUBGROUP Coriifolium along with E bilobatum.
"Epidendrum coriifolium is part of GROUP Spathiger SUBGROUP Coriifolium characterized by the sympodial habit, coriaceous leaves, and the racemose, distichous inflorescence carrying fleshy green to purplish flowers. The species is the only one in the subgroup with 4 to 9 very rigid, coriaceous, semi-terete leaves and in addition has non-imbricating floral bracts that are somewhat incurved and apically narrowly rounded and successive greenish brown to purplish colored flowers. It has been confused with other species of the group, which all have flat leaves, and thus the name has been used to designate nearly all the large-flowered species including Epidendrum alvarezdeltoroi Hágsater from Mexico and Guatemala which has, simultaneous flowers with the inflorescence barely longer than the apical leaf. Epidendrum summerhayesii Hágsater has short, imbricating, wide, rounded floral bracts. Epidendrum allochronum Hágsater has narrow, straight, narrowly rounded bracts; flowers produced one at a time and very narrow, linear, acuminate petals. Epidendrum beharorum Hágsater, from Guatemala and Mexico has a much longer inflorescence with spreading, straight floral bracts, and flowers, though successive, show several open at one time." Hagsater etal 2009
Synonyms Epidendrum fuscopurpureum Schltr. 1922; Epidendrum subviolascens Schltr. 1923
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Otia Botanica Hamburgensia Rchb.f 1878; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 17: 31. Panama Schlechter 1922 as E coriifolium var purpurescens; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 17: 32. Panama Schlechter 1922 as E fuscopurpureum; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 19: 36. Costa Rica Schlechter 1923; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 19: 41. Costa Rica Schlechter 1923 as E palmense; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 19: 122. Costa Rica Schlechter 1923 as E palmense; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 19: 219. Costa Rica Schlechter 1923 as E subviolascens; The Genus Epidendrum Ames 1936; The Orchids of Panama L.O. Williams & P Allen 1946; Ceiba Vol 5 No 1 L O Williams 1956; Orchids of Peru Vol 2 Fieldiana Schweinfurth 1959; Venezuelan Orchids Illustrated Vol 2 Dunsterville & Garay 1961=E amzonicorifolium; AOS Bulletin Vol 33 #8 1964; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; AOS Bulletin Vol 36 #9 1967 = E imitans; AOS Bulletin Vol 38 No 3 1969 photo fide; Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 9 513 - 576 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1977 photo fide; Orchids of Venezuela, An Illustrated Field Guide Dunsterville, G.C.K. & Garay, L.A., 1979 not = E amazonicorrifolium; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 530 Vasquez & Dodson 1982 drawing fide; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 530 Dodson 1984; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 1019 Dodson 1984 drawing fide; Selbyana Vol 10 Orchids of Central America Hamer 1988 drawing fide; A Guide to Orchids of the World Hodgson, Paine and Anderson 1991 photo fide; The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids Pridgeon 1992 photo fide; Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama Dressler 1993 as E fuscopurpureum; Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama Dressler 1993; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 1522 Atwood 1993 as Epidendrum circinatum; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 104 Hagsater & Sanchez 1993 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 104 Hagsater & Sanchez 1993 see recognition section as E fuscopurpureum; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 104 Hagsater & Sanchez 1993 see recognition section as E subviolascens; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 112 Hagsater & Sanchez 1993 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 112 Hagsater & Sanchez 1993 see recognition section as E subviolascens; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 116 Hagsater & Sanchez 1993 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 116 Hagsater & Sanchez 1993 see recognition section as E subviolascens; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 127 Hagsater & Sanchez 1993 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 174 Hagsater & Sanchez 1993 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 189 Hagsater & Sanchez 1993 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 189 Hagsater & Dodson 1993 see recognition section as E palmense; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 189 Hagsater & Dodson 1993 see recognition section as E fuscopurpureum; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 189 Hagsater & Dodson 1993 see recognition section as E subviolascens; Icones Orchidacearum Peruviarum Plate 042 Dodson 1993 drawing fide; Manual Of Orchids Stewart 1995; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 313 Hagsater & Sanchez 1999 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 313 Hagsater & Sanchez 1999 see recognition section as E palmense; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 328 Hagsater & Sanchez 1999 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 364 Hagsater & Sanchez 1999 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 364 Hagsater 1999 see recognition section as E palmense; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 395 Hagsater & Sanchez 1999 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 398 Hagsater & Sanchez 1999 see recognition section; Orchids of Venezuela [An illustrated field guide] Vol. 1 Ramiro and Carnevali 2000 as E imitans drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 408 Hagsater & Sanchez 2001 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 407 Hagsater 2001 as E palmense see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 4 The Genus Epidendrum Part 3 Plate 409 Hagsater 2001 see recognition section; Botanica's Orchids Laurel Glen 2002 photo fide; Manual de las Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003; Orquideologia Vol 23 #1 2004 photo fide; Orquideologia Vol. 23 No 2 2004 photo fide; Orchids of Bolivia Vol 2 Laelinae Vasquez and Ibisch 2004 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 74 #6 2005 photo fide; Vanishing Beauty; Native Costa Rican Orchids Vol 1 Pupulin 2005; Vanishing Beauty; Native Costa Rican Orchids Vol 1 Pupulin 2005 as Epidendrum circinatum; Vanishing Beauty; Native Costa Rican Orchids Vol 1 Pupulin 2005 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 71 No 1 2007 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 11 Plate 1136 Hagsater & Sanchez 2008 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 11 Plate 1154 Hagsater 2008 see recognition section; Orchid Species of Peru Zelenko Bermudez 2009 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum Part 12 Plate 1228 Hagsater 2009 drawing fide; Orchids of Costa Rica Vol 3 Morales 2009 photo fide; Orchids of French Guiana Szlachetko, Veyret, etal 2012 drawing/photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 86 # 1 2017 photo fide;
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