Epidendrum elephantinum Hágsater 2004 GROUP Amblostoma SUBGROUP Amblostomioides

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

EARLIER

Common Name or Meaning The Elephant-Like Epidendrum [refers to the appearance of the lip when viewed from the side]

Flower Size .6" [1.5 cm]

Found in Panama in the Darien near the Colombian border at elevations around 1000 to 1200 meters as a medium sized, cool growing epiphyte with an erect, simple, cane-like, terete stem carrying at least 5, on the apical half, alternate, articulate, subcoriaceous, narrowly lanceolate, unequally bilobed leaves that blooms in the earlier fall on a terminal, paniculate, suberect, to 12" [to 30 cm] long, including the very short, straight, terete, thick, smooth, bractless peduncle, 10 branched, each branch 20 to 40 flowered, each branch from 5.4 to 8.8" [13.5 to 22 cm] long, all arching erect, simultaneously to 250 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acute floral bracts and carrying resupinate, cream colored flowers.

"Epidendrum elephantinum belongs to the GROUP Amblostoma SUBGROUP Amblostomioides which is characterized by the caespitose habit, the thinly fusiform stems with narrow, apically bilobed, subcoriaceous leaves distributed along the apical half of the stems, an often large, apical, erect, paniculate inflorescence, the flowers greenish-yellow to white, the ovary and the sepals usually dorsally pubescent, and the lip 3-lobed. The species is recognized by the strongly pubescent ovaries and dorsal side of the sepals, the strongly arched column, with the humped clinandrium hood, the small ffowers with sepals.2 to .264" [5.0 to 6.6 mm] and the bell-shaped midlobe with the lateral margins revolute and the whole upturned so as to look like an elephant's trunk. It closely resembles Epidendrum pubiflorum from the Amazonian slope in Peru, which has oblong, apically rounded, bilobed leaves, larger flowers with sepals .36 to .44" [9 to 11 mm], and the petals .08" [2 mm] wide. Epidendrum caurense Carnevali & G. Romero has sepals .28" [7 mm] long, pale yellow-green flowers, a straight column, and an oblong midlobe. Epidendrum lanipes Lindl. has.4 to .48" [10 to 12 mm] long sepals, white, strongly fragrant flowers, a straight column, and large, sturdy stems with leaves .68 to 1" {17 to 25 mm] wide. Epidendrum purum Lindl. has glabrous ovaries and sepals, sepals .24 to .28" [6 to 7 mm] long and an arched column. Epidendrum hartii Rolfe has glabrous ovaries and sepals which are.28 to .32" [7 to 8 mm] long, and a stralght column." Hagsater etal 2004

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 734 Hagsater 2004 drawing fide; Orchids of the Darien Gap Kolanowska 2014 drawing fide;

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