Epidendrum sobralioides Ames & Correll 1943 GROUP Eximium
Photo by © Challen Willemsen and his Challenguate Blogsite
Photo by Walter Teague
Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
Common Name The Sobralia-Like Epidendrum
Flower Size 2.4" [6 cm]
Found in southern Mexico and Guatemala at elevations of 1750 to 2800 meters as a medium sized, cool to cold growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, basally terete, laterally compressed above stems enveloped in the basal half by tubular, scarious sheaths and carrying 5 to 7, along the upper half, articulate, distichous, ascending, linear-lanceolate, acute, coriaceous, green to purple green, margin entire, spreading leaves that blooms in the winter on a terminal, occuring only once, racemose, arching-nutant, short, 4 to 6 flowered inflorescence with prominent, nearly as long as the ovary, narrowly triangular, long-acuminate floral bracts and carries simultaneously opening flowers.
"Epidendrum sobraloides belongs to the GROUP Eximium which is characterized by the relatively small plants, to 16" [40 cm] tall, the sympodial, non-branching, few-leaved stems, the apical, generally racemose inflorescence always short, shorter than the apical leaf, the bell-shaped, showy, greenish yellow or green with brown or purple tinted flowers, the lip entire, and very small calli. The species is recognized by the linear-lanceolate, acute leaves .2 to .4" [5 to 10 mm] wide, the concolor, yellow lip, the partly spreading, 1.186" to 1.36" [29 to 34 mm] long sepals and petals with the apex recurved, and the obovate lip with the margins spreading, not embracing the column. Epidendrum eximium L.O. Williams has lanceolate to elliptic, .4 to .12" [10 to 30 mm] wide leaves, .72 to 1" [18 to 25 mm] long sepals and petals, partly spreading, the apex straight, and the lip tinged with reddish-purple, suborbicular ovate, with the base embracing the apex of the column. Epidendrum warszewiczii Rchb.f. also has linear-lanceolate leaves but the apex is obtuse and bilobed, the flowers probably pale reddish purple, the sepals and petals nearly closed with the apex recurved, about .138" [32 mm] long, and the lip slightly 3-lobed but obovate in general outline, with the margin denticulate." Hagsater etal 2008
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Ceiba Vol 5 No 1 L O Williams 1956; Icones Orchidacearum 1 Plate 30 Hagsater & Sanchez 1990 see recognition section; Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama Dressler 1993; Guatemala Y Sus Orquideas Behar & Tinschert 1998 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 11 Plate 1179 Hagsater & Sanchez 2008 drawing ok; Orchid Genera and Species in Guatemala Archila, Szlachchetko, Chiron, Lipinska, Mystkowska and Bertolini 2018
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