Epidendrum gastropodium Rchb. f. 1854 GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Gastropodium
Photo by © Walter Teague
TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
Plant and Flowers in situ, Vulcan de Purace Colombia 6/07
Photos by © Jay Pfahl
Common Name The Bulging Stem Epidendrum
Flower Size 2/5" [9mm]
Found in southern Colombia and Ecuador in cloud forests at elevations of 1500 to 3400 meters as a small sized, cool to cold growing epiphyte or occasional terrestrial on steep banks with erect, cane-like, often branched stems enveloped by long, tubular sheaths and carrying stiff, narrowly ovate, apically emarginate, distichous, basally clasping leaves and blooms at most any time of the year on a terminal, short, to .8" [2 cm] long, racemose, corymb-like inflorescence with 9 to 12, simultaneously opening, flowers.
Notice the narrow petals, this seems to be the biggest factor in determining this species. If the petals are broad and cupped then you have E melanogastropodium or E mesogastropodium.
"Epidendrum gastrochilum belongs to the GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Gastropodium which is characteri zed by th e branching plants, linear lanceolate to oblong, bilobed leaves, racemose, arching-nulant inflorescence, membranaceous, rarely fleshy flowers, the entire to 3-lobed, ecallose lip with the margin erose with or without 1 to 10 thin, smooth to erose keels, the column completely to obliquely united to the the reniform anther. The species has acute floral segments and the concave lip has prominent transverse cushion ending in three short keels, the flowers are pink-purple. It is similar to Epidendrum eugeneii Schltr. where the lip has three, narrow low keels which do not form a transverse cushion, and reach nearly the apex of the lip. Epidendrum mesogastropodlum Hagsater & Dodson has ovate-elliptic, subacute sepals, and the cushion of the lip truncate." Hagsater etal 2006
Synonyms Epidendrum reichenbachianum Schltr. 1921; *Gastropodium violaceum Lindl. 1845
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 7: 247 Schlechter 1920; Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 8: 83 Ecuador Schlechter 1921 as E reichenbachianum; Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. Figuren-Atlas 57: 360 Schlechter 1929 as E reichenbachianum drawing fide; Orchids of Venezuela [An illustrated field guide] Vol. 1 Dunsterville and Garay 1979 drawing Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 379 Dodson 1980 drawing ok; The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids Pridgeon 1992 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 186 Hagsater 1993 see recognition section; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 5 COS 1994; Manual Of Orchids Stewart 1995; Orchids of Venezuela [An illustrated field guide] Vol. 1 Ramiro and Carnevali 2000 drawing ok; Native Ecuadorian Orchids Vol 2 Dodson 2001 drawing/photo fide; Orquideas Nativas del Tachira Cesar Fernandez 2003 photo not; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 731 Hagsater 2004 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 758 Hagsater 2004 as E reichenbachianum see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 759 Hagsater 2004 see recognition section;; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 765 Hagsater 2004 as E reichenbachianum see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 765 Hagsater and Sanchez 2004 see recognition section; Orquideologia Vol 24 #1 2005 photo fide; Orquideologia Vol 24 #1 2005 as E reichenbachianum; Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 836 Hagsater 2006 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 935 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1393 Hasater & Salazar 2010 see recognition section; AOS Bulletin Vol 80 #9 2011 photo fide; Orchids of the Department of Valle De Cauca Colombia Vol 2 Kolanowska, Hagsater etal. 2014 drawing/photo fide; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 photo fide
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