Epidendrum erica-moroniae Hágsater & E.Santiago 2016 GROUP Epidendropsis SUBGROUP Gracillimum
Photo by © Erica Moron/TYPE Drawing by M Jimemez and The AMO Herbaria Website
LATE
Common Name Erica Moron's Epidendrum [Peruvian Orchid Enthusiast current]
Flower Size .4" [1 cm]
Found in northern and southern Peru and into Bolivia on the Amazon slope of the Cordillera Oriental in dry scrub forest at elevations of 1700 to 2300 meters as a small sized, cool to cold growing epiphyte with simple, short, cane-like, basally terete, laterally compressed towards the apex, thin stems enveloped basally by non-foliar, tubular, minutely striated, scarious sheaths and carrying 4 to 7, all along the stem, sub-spreading, straight, linear, acute, coriaceous, slightly revolute, margin entire leaves that blooms in the late fall through spring on a terminal, paniculate, erect, peduncle 2.8 to 3.4" [7 to 8.5 cm] long, thin, ancipitous, fractiflex, 2 to 4 bracts all along, tubular, ancipitous basally, conduplicate in the apical half, apically subacute bracts, rachis thin, terete, 5 to 5.2" [12.5 to 13 cm] long, with 4 to 6 branches each .6 to 1.4" [1.5 to 3.5 cm] long, each branch perpendicular to the main rachis, each branch 8 to 17 flowered, simultaneously [exept for some of the apical branches] 30 to 70 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, narrowly triangular, long-acuminate, embracing floral bracts and carrying small, membraneous, lip always facing the rachis, greenish brown, turning purple pink flowers with the apex of the column purple.
"Epidendrum erica-moroniae belongs to the GROUP Epidendropsis SUBGROUP Gracillimum characterized by the sympodial, caespitose, relatively small plants with non-thickened stems, long, paniculate inflorescence, delicate small flowers, and long, narrow, sub-coriaceous leaves. The species is recognized by the relatively tall plants, 8 to 12" [20 to 30 cm] tall, linear, wide leaves 1.6 to 3.2" x .08 to .2"" [3.5 to 8.0 x 0.2 to 0.5 cm], densely many-flowered inflorescence, with racemes .6 to 1.4" [1.5 to 3.5 cm] long, with up to 17 flowers per raceme, flowers greenish brown turning purple-pink, sepals spreading, .184 to .2" [4.6 to 5.0 mm] long, spreading, petals linear, and the ovary forming a elongate vesicle, and the lip entire. Epidendrum gracillimum has plants to 6 to 8" [15 to 20 cm] tall, leaves linear-lanceolate, 1.8 to 2.6" x .08 to .12" [4.5 to 6.5 x 0.2 to 0.3 cm], a laxly few-flowered inflorescence racemes .32 to .6" [0.8 to 1.5 cm] long, with 3 t0 5 flowers, petals filiform, and the lip clearly 3-lobed, the mid-lobe itself bilobulate, short and wide. Epidendrum schlimii Rchb.f. has plants with shorter, narrower leaves, .4 to 1.6{2.2"] x .08 to .12" [1 to 4[5.5] x 0.2 to 0.3 cm], inflorescence laxly few-flowered, racemes 2-flowered up to 2" [5 cm] long, dorsal sepals strongly reflexed, parallel to the ovary, and petals filiform. Epidendrum rolfeanum F.Lehm. & Kraenzl. has plants 4.8 to 7.2" [12 to 18 cm] tall, leaves acicular, .16 to .44" x .04 to .08" [4 to 11 x 0.1 to 0.2 mm], inflorescence composed of racemes .2 to .6" [0.5 to 1.5 cm] long, with 3 to 6 flowers, the flowers purple-brown, the disc of the lip greenish yellow, dorsal sepal strongly reflexed, and petals filiform. Epidendrum cryptorhachis Hágsater has by far the tallest plants in the group, to 17.2" [43 cm] tall, leaves 1.12 to 4" x .16 to .32" [2.8 to 10 x 0.4 to 0.8 cm], linear-lanceolate, a densely many-flowered inflorescence with multiple racemes parallel to the rachis, with up to 14 flowers per raceme, lip 3-lobed, petals narrowly spatulate. Epidendrum physophorum Schltr. has small plants, 4 to 6" [10 to 15 cm] tall, leaves 1.4 to 2.4" x .06 to .012" [3.5 to 6.0 x 0.15 to 0.3 cm], racemes of the inflorescence with 5 to 6 flowers, dorsal sepal strongly reflexed and parallel to the ovary, petals filiform and the ovary with a very prominent inflated vesicle." Hagsater etal 2016
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [2] Plate 1580 Hagsater & Santiago 2016 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [2] Plate 1587 Hagsater & Sanchez 2016 see recognition section;
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