Epidendrum flexuosissimum C.Schweinf. 1949 GROUP Lanium
Photos by © Bogarin and The Epidendra Website
Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
EARLY 
Common Name The Most Flexuous Epidendrum [refers to the inflorescence]
Flower Size .4" [1 cm]
Found in Panama, Colombia and Ecuador at elevations around 520 to 1700 meters as a miniature sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte with a simple, cane-like, terete, thin, erect to slightly flexuous stems enveloped completely by somewhat inflated, tubular, non-leaf-bearing sheaths and carrying 2 towards the apex, articulate, spreading, ovate to orbicular to rarely narrowly elliptic, coriaceous, rounded, sometimes minutely apiculate, margin entire leaves that blooms in the fall and early winter on a terminal, paniculate to rarely racemose, erect, distichous, thin, laterally compressed, two-winged, fractiflex, 4" [10 cm] long, 2 to 6 branched, laxly few flowered inflorescence with each branch subtended by a narrowly triangular, acute, conduplicate bract and carrying 3 to 5, simultaneously opening, non-resupinate, distichous flowers with triangular, acute, much shorter than the ovaries floral bracts.
"Epidendrum flexuosissimum belongs to the GROUP Lanium which is characterized by rhizomatous plants, the stems cane-like to pseudobublous, leaves generally aggregate towards the apex, flowers non-resupinate, more or less pubescent, with 2 to 4 pollinia . The species is recognized by the short stems .4 to 2" [1 to 5 cm] tall with 2 ovate-orbicular, rarely narrowly elliptic spreading leaves, paniculate inflorescence with the peduncle and rachis fractiflex, greenish to yellowish flowers, linear petals with the margin densely ciliate, lip bicallose, each callus bidentate, with three short keels, and the midlobe triangular. Epidendrum ciliipetalum (Garay) Hágsater & E. Santiago has longer stems 2.8" [7 cm] tall, the two apical leaves narrowly ovate-oblong, subacute and conduplicate, the inflorescence with a single branch, peduncle straight, petals and sepals reflexed and the lip bicallose, the apex of each callus minutely 3-lobed. Epidendrum flexuoecallosum Hágsater & E. Santiago has up to 2.6" [6.5 cm] long stems with 3 to 6, elliptic-lanceolate leaves distributed throughout, spreading, linear petals and an ecallose lip with two short cunicula at the base." Hagsater etal 2008
Synonyms Epidendropsis flexuosissima (C.Schweinf.) Garay & Dunst. 1976
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Ceiba Vol 5 No 1 L O Williams 1956; Venezuelan Orchids Ilustrated Vol 6 Dunsterville & Garay 1976 as Epidendropsis flexuosissima; Orchids Travel By Air A Pictoral Safari Mulder, Mulder-Roelfsema and Schuiteman 1990 photo fide; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1C lieferung 42 - 43 pg 2626 - 2762 Brieger 2001 as Epidendropsis flexuosissima; Orquideas de la Serrania del Baudo Misas Urreta 2005 drawing/photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 918 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 938 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 11 Plate 1124 Hagsater & Sanchez 2008 drawing fide; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 Drawing/Photo fide;
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