Epidendrum quinquepartitum Schltr. 1922 GROUP Cristatum SUBGROUP Cnemidophorum

Photo by © Shawnee Lyons

LATE and EARLY

Common Name The 5 Lobed Epidendrum [refers to the 5 lobed lip]

Flower Size 1.6" [4 cm]

Found in Bolivia in wet montane forests at elevations of 1300 to 1800 meters as a medium to large sized, cool growing, reed stem epiphyte or terrestrial with an erect, strict to substrict stem enveloped completely by leaf bearing sheaths and carrying erect-patent, ligulate to sub-lanceolate, ligulate, obliquely obtuse, coriaceous, glabrous leaves that blooms in the fall and winter on an arching to pendant, 8 to 10" [20 to 25 cm] long, laxly several flowered inflorescence enveloped by several imbricating bracts.

"Epidendrum quinquepartitum Schltr. is part of GROUP Cristatum characterized by the sympodial, caespitose habit, many-leaved stems, apical racemose inflorescence with several large, imbricating bracts, and producing successive racemes over the years from the peduncle, and the GROUP Cristatum SUBGROUP Cnemidophorum, with pink-purple or yellow to yellowish green flowers, the lip with the margin of the lateral lobes entire. The species is from eastern Bolivia, recognized by the long peduncle of the inflorescence covered by long, imbricating, conduplicate bracts, the successive raceme with the first flowers opening when the apical buds are just developing, and the fuchsia flowers with the lip white with fuchsia margins and with two elongate, white calli with deep fuchsia markings at their apices and the the lip is asymmetrically 5-lobed. Epidendrum oraion has similar habit and flower color but the lip is 4­ lobed, bicallose, the calli extending to the middle of the disc, with a prominent central, rounded keel reaching the apex, base cordate; basal lobes semiorbicular, margins irregular; apical lobes subovate to subquadrate, strongly divaricate. This species closely resembles the Costa Rican E. pfavii Rolfe, which can be distinguished by the triangular-dolabriform basal lobes of the lip, which are about as wide as long, and the apical lobes only slightly divergent." Adapted from Icones 2 Plate 166 Hagsater etal 1993

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 10: 45 Schlechter 1922; Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 10: 71 Bolivia Schlechter 1922; Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. Figuren-Atlas 57: 541 Schlechter 1929 drawing fide; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Series II plate 0227 Dodson & Vasquez 1989 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 166 Hagsater & Dodson 1993 see recognition section; Orchids of Bolivia Vol 2 Laelinae Vasquez and Ibisch 2004 drawing/photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 14 Plate 1485 Hagsater & Sanchez 2013 see recognition section;

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------