Epidendrum culmiforme Schltr. 1912 GROUP Chloe

Drawing by © Jimenez and The AMO Herbaria Website

MID

Common Name The Thin Stemmed Epidendrum

Flower Size .8" [2 cm]

Found in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and northern Nicaragua at eleavtions of 1000 to 2500 meters as a miniature to medium sized, cool to cold growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, terete, very thin, erect, straight stems basally enveloped by nonfoliar, tubular, scarious sheaths and carrying 2 to 10, all along the apical half of the stem, suberect, grass-like, articulate, distichous, linear, acuminate, subcoriaceous, flexible, margin entire leaves that blooms in the earlier summer through mid winter on a terminal, occuring only once, racemose, arching, always shorter than the apical leaf, peduncle terete, thin, generally provided in the middle with a single, linear-lanceolate, long acuminate bract, opening from the apex towards the base, simultaneously 4 to 12 flowered inflorescnece with varible in size, basally slightly longer than the ovary, apically shorter, linear-lanceolate, long-acuminate floral bracts and carrying resupinate, copper-pink to greenish brown, non fragrant flowers with the column apex pink.

"Epidendrum culmiforme belongs to the GROUP Chloe which is characterized by the sympodial, caespitose plants with simple, very thin stems, grass-like, acuminate, sub-erect leaves, a racemose, lax, few-flowered inflorescence, and delicate flowers with a more or less cordate lip. The species is recognized relatively tall plants, to 16" [40 cm], pink-copper to greenish brown colored flowers, sepals .32 to .48" [8 to 12 mm] long, entire, ovate-cordiform lip .2 to .24" [5 to 6 mm] long. Epidendrum chloe Rchb.f. has shorter plants, to 12" [30 cm] tall, copper colored flowers with a greenish lip, and the apex of the column pink, sepals .44 to .52" [11 to 13 mm] long, and a somewhat 3- lobed lip with hemi-elliptic lateral lobes. Epidendrum wendtii Hágsater & Salazar has taller plants, to 26.8" [67 cm] high, large, greenish to orange-cream-colored flowers, sepals .6 to .92" [15 to 23 mm] long, and the entire, ovate-triangular lip, .3 to .468" [7.5 to 11.6 mm] long.

"NOTE: Many authors have considered E. culmiforme as a synonym of Epidendrum chloe Rchb.f., but we have found conspicuous differences in all the specimens, so we consider them as distinct species with different distribution ranges, flowering times and clear differences in the shape of the lip." Hagsater etal 2010

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Orchids of Mexico Hagsater, Soto, Salazar, Jimenez, Lopez and Dressler 2005; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1315 Hagsater & Santiago 2010 See recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1324 Hagsater & Santiago 2010 Drawing fide; Orchid Genera and Species in Guatemala Archila, Szlachchetko, Chiron, Lipinska, Mystkowska and Bertolini 2018

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