Epidendrum trialatum Hágsater 1984 GROUP Difforme
Inflorescence Photos by © Eric Hunt
Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
THROUGH 
Common Name The Three Winged Epidendrum
Flower Size 2/5" [1 cm]
Found in Nicaragua, Panama and Costa Rica in rain and semi-deciduous forests at elevations of 50 to 1000 meters as a miniature to small sized, hot to warm growing epiphyte with a short, simple, cane-like, laterally compressed, slightly flexous stem enveloped by, elongate, acuminate, loose, scarious sheaths and carrying 4 to 11, coriaceous, all along the stem, narrowly elliptic to ligulate, obtuse to retuse, conduplicate and basally clasping leaves that blooms in the fall through spring on a sub-umbellate, arising through an apical spathe, nearly sessile, 1" [2.5 cm] long, racemose, simultaneously 3 to 6 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the vary, triangular, acute floral brascts and carrying nocturnally very fragrant flowers.
" Epidendrum trialatum belongs to the GROUP Difforme which is characterized by the caespitose, sympodial plants, fleshy, pale green to glaucous leaves, apical inflorescence, sessile, rarely with a short peduncle, single flowered to corymbose, without spathaceous bracts, fleshy, green to yellowish-green, rarely white flowers. The species can be recognized by the laterally compressed stems, narrowly elliptic to ligulate leaves, 3 to 6, greenish white flowers, single veined petals, a rectangular-reniform lip, and especially the apex of the column with 3, dentate-fimbriate petaloid processes. Epidendrum firmum Rchb. r. has more delicate plants, smaller, greenish flowers, and a 3-lobed lip with a quadrate midlobe." Hagsater etal 2010
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * ORQUIDEA (Méx.) 9(2): Hagsater 356 1984 drawing/photo fide; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 1317 Atwood 1989 see notes; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum plate 1328 Atwood 1989 drawing fide; Manual de las Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 11 Plate 1189 Hagsater & Sanchez 2008 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [2] Plate 1569 Hagsater & Sanchez 2016 see recognition section;
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