IOSPE PHOTOS

Epidendrum gastrochilum Kraenzl. 1906 GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Diothonea

Rarer Yellowish with purple tinge flower

Photos by Š Miguel Chocce-Pena and his The Notas Plantarum Blogspot

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

Common Name or Meaning The Bulging Lip Epidendrum [refers to the deeply concave disc of the lip]

Flower Size 1.2" [3 cm]

Found in northeastern Peru at elevations around 2800 to 3100 meters as a small sized, cold growing epiphyte with terete, thin, straight, branching above, cane-like stems carrying 4 to 9, towards the apical half of the stem, distichous, subcoriaceous, narrowly lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, truncate, unequally bilobed, somewhat crenate to entire leaves that blooms in the summer and fall on a terminal, occuring only once, racemose, arching, terete, thin, 1 to 1.4" [2.5 to 3.5 cm] long including the .36 to 1/2" [9 to 12 mm] long peduncle, simultaneously 3 to 5 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acute floral bracts and carrying flowers that are either greenish brown, reddish or rarely yellowish with a purple tinge.

"Epidendrum gastrochilum Kraenzl. belongs to the GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Diothonea which is characterized by the branching plants, linear lanceolate to oblong, bilobed leaves, racemose, arching-nutant inflorescence, membranaceous, rarely fleshy flowers, the entire to 3-lobed, ecallose lip with the margin erose, with or without 1 to 10 thin, smooth to erose keels, the column completely to obliquely united to the lip, the anther reniform. The species has narrowly lanceolate to oblong leaves with the apex truncate and bilobed, a short 3 to 5 flowered inflorescence, linear to linear-oblanceolate petals and the lip united to the column, entire, ovate-orbicular, and cuneate at the base. It is similar to Epidendrum heterothoneum (Rchb.f. & Warsc.) Hagsater & Dodson, which has linear to linear-lanceolate, obtuse and minutely bilobed leaves, a short inflorescence with up to 13 flowers and the lip united to the column and a 3-lobed lip. Epidendrum suavis (Rchb.f & Warsc.) Lojnant has narrowly lanceolate leaves up to 5.2" [13 cm] long, inflorescence to 15 flowered, obtrullate, acute, petals and the entire, flabelate-subovate lip. Epidendrum platystele is recognized by the orange-brown flowers, sepals and petals partly spreading, the obtuse apices of the sepals , the lip united to the basal half of the thick, ecallose column, with a semi-circular, fleshy thickening at the apical sinus, a prominent clinandrium-hood with the margin denticulate. Epidendrum hemihenomenum Hágsater & Dodson has successive reddish brown flowers, the lip much wider than long, the clinandrium-hood slightly shorter with the margin sub-entire and the nectary very wide." Adapted from Plate 1474 Hagsater etal 2013

Synonyms

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