Epidendrum cystosum Ames 1934 GROUP Physinga

Photo by © Karremans and The Epidendra Website

Drawing

Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website

MID

Common Name The Bladder Epidendrum [refers to the prominent ventral vesicle behind the perianth.

Flower Size .6" [1.5 cm]

Found in Chiapas Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica in lower humid forests at elevations of 140 to 1100 meters as a mini-miniature to miniature sized, hot to cool growing epiphyte with a single, erect, terete below, lightly compressed above, slender stem enveloped by tight sheaths and carrying 2, apical, grass-like, obliquely ascending, acute leaves that blooms in the mid spring on successive, pluriracemose, terminal, to 1.2" [3 cm] long, successively single, few flowered inflorescence with up to 7 bracts.

"Epidendrum cystosum belongs to the GROUP Physinga which is characterized by to the generally small, caespitose plants, the inflorescence apical and racemose producing new racemes with time and thus pluriracemose, the successive flowers opening one at a time on an elongate peduncle with acuminate bracts, the lip entire and the ovary with a prominent vesicle. The species is recognized by the thin stems, grassy leaves, short inflorescence, generally shorter than the apical lea), the partly spreading floral segments, with the apices of the sepals slightly recurved, the elliptic to sub-orbicular lip with evident laminar keels, and the prominent clinandrium-hood with the margin erose. Epidendrum macroclinium Hágsater has succulent, ovate-lanceolate leaves, an elongate inflorescence, much longer than the apical leaf, reflexed petals and an obreniform lip with a single low keel, and the prominent clinandrium-hood with a fimbriate-dentate margin. Epidendrum physodes Rchb.f. has wider lanceolate, short-acuminate leaves .24 to .48" [6 to 12 mm] wide), the inflorescence longer than the apical leaf, spreading floral segments, the lip transversely elliptic, with a single low keel, and a very short clinandrium-hood with the margin thick and somewhat crenate. Epidendrum prostratum (Lindl.) Cogn. an Amazonian species is vegetatively very similar to E. macroclinium but the sepals and petals are partly spreading, the base of the lip deeply cordate, with 3 prominent keels on the disc, and the clinandrium-hood deeply emarginate, the margin entire." Hagsater etal 2010

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; The Genus Epidendrum Ames 1936; Ceiba Vol 5 No 1 L O Williams 1956; Icones Plantarum Tropicarum Plate 1218 Hamer 1985 drawing fide; Selbyana Vol 10 Orchids of Central America Hamer 1988 drawing fide; Orchids of Mexico Hagsater, Soto, Salazar, Jimenez, Lopez and Dressler 2005; Orquideas de la Serrania del Baudo Cho Colombia Misas 2005 drawing/photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1325 Hagsater & Santiago 2010 drawing fide; Lankestriana 12(1): Karremans and Bogarin 2012 Drawing/photo fide; Orchid Genera and Species in Guatemala Archila, Szlachchetko, Chiron, Lipinska, Mystkowska and Bertolini 2018; Icones Orchidacearum 17(1) Plate 1734 Hagsater & Jimenez 2019 drawing fide

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