IOSPE PHOTOS

Epidendrum englerianum F. Lehm. & Kraenzl. 1899 GROUP Pseudepidendrum SUBGROUP Porphyreum

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

Common Name or Meaning Engler's Epidendrum [German Botanist 1800's]

Flower Size .8" [2 cm]

Found in Ecuador on the Amazonian slope of the Andes at elevations of 1500 to 2600 meters as a large sized, cool to cold growing epiphyte or terrestrial with simple, terete, thin, erect, straight, cane-like stems enveloped in the basal half by non-foliaceous, tubular, scarious sheaths and carrying in the upper 1/2, 8 to 11, distichous, suberect, narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, minutely apiculate, grass-like, entire marginally, articulate below into the base leaves that blooms at most any time of the year on a terminal, paniculate, suberect to slightly arching, thin, laterally compressed, straight then somewhat flexuous, lax, few flowered inflorescence not arising through a spathaceous bract, and each racemose, 1 to few flowered branch has a basal, linear-triangular, acuminate, amplexicaul bract and shorter than the ovary, narrowly triangular, acuminate, amplexicaul floral bracts.

"Epidendrum englerianum belongs to the GROUP Pseudepidendrum is characterized by caespitose plants, cane-like stems, acute to acuminate leaves, apical inflorescence, lacking a spathaceous bract, the petals filiform and the lip usually 3-lobed, with 3 parallel fleshy keels, the apical lobe often bifurcate, and the pollinia “bird-wing” type and SUBGROUP Porphyreum with colored flowers ranging from reddish orange to dark purple or lilac-pink, generally with prominent calli, sometimes horn-like. The species is recognized by the small plants 8 to 20" [20 to 50 cm] tall, narrowly lanceolate leaves 1.2 to 5.4" X .24 to .6" [3 to 13.5 x 0.6 to 1.5 cm]; lax, few-flowered inflorescence with the sepals and petals deep purple, the apex of the column and lip pink (there does exist an albino form, with green and white flowers), sepals reflexed, .4 to .52" [10 to 13 mm] long; base of lip deeply cordate, lateral lobes falcate-retrorse; calli thin, prominent. Epidendrum peraltum Schltr. has taller plants 24 to 100" [60 to 250 cm], lanceolate leaves 2.2 to 8" x 1 to 1.84" [5.5 to 20 x 2.5 to 4.6 cm], many-flowered inflorescences, the flower greenish yellow tinged pink to totally dirty pink; sepals spreading, .56 to .62" [14 to 16 mm] long, the lateral lobes of the lip strongly retrorse, nearly parallel to the column. Epidendrum porphyreum Lindl. has 20 to 52" [50 to 130 cm] tall plants, narrowly elliptic leaves 3.2 to 7" x .6 to 1.6" [8 to 17.5 x 1.5 to 4 cm], a dense inflorescence of up to 150, deep purple flowers, the disc white, spreading sepals .52 to .6" [13 to 15 mm] long; the lateral lobes of the lip spreading, and the mid-lobe with a pair of triangular, slightly divaricate lobes." Hagsater etal 2010

Synonyms Epidendrum fastigiatum lindl. var bifidum Rchb.f 1878

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1320 Hagsater 2010 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1328 Hagsater 2010 drawing fide; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 as E aff englerianum Photo good; Icones Orchidacearum 18(1) plate 1810 2020 see recognition section

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