Epidendrum glossaspis Rchb.f. 1876 GROUP Amphyglottis SUBGROUP Glossaspis
Dissection Photo by © H. Medina and courtesy of Eric Hagsater and Icones Orchidacearum 16(1): t. 1620 Hagsater etal 2018
Photo by © Paul Johnson
Common Name The Eyelash Epidendrum [refers to the lateral wings at the apex of the column]
Flower Size 2.2" [5.5 cm]
Found in southern Ecuador on the eastern slope of the Andes and in Peru on the Cordillera Condor in very wet premontane forest at elevations of 700 to 1900 meters as a medium to giant sized, warm to cool growing terrestrial or epiphyte among bushes with simple, cane-like, terete, erect, straight, green when young, tinged with purple with age stems carrying distichous, distributed throughout the stem, alternate, articulate, green, unequal in size, narrowly elliptic-lanceolate to lanceolate oblong, apex sub-obtuse, coriaceous, dark green the basal and apical leaves somewhat shorter articulated to the tubular, minutely striated sheaths that blooms in the spring through mid fall on a terminal, peduncle to 16" [40 cm] long, elongate, terete, provided with 5 to 7, tubular, acute, partly imbricating bracts, brown, rachis 2" [5 cm] long, racemose, producing new racemes with time and thus pluri-racemose, each raceme compact, densely, successively to 10, many flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, linear-triangular, acuminate, embracing floral bracts and carrying non-resupinate, pink-purple including the ovary, the callus white with the apical wings of the column turning yellow when pollen is removed; without fragrance flowers.
"Epidendrum glossaspis belongs to the GROUP Amphyglottis SUBGROUP Glossaspis which is recognized by the caespitose habit, simple stems, leaves oblong-lanceolate, coriaceous, bilobed and elongate peduncle of the erect, racemose inflorescence, the flowers non-resupinate, the callus simple, elongate, fleshy and sulcate towards the base. The species is recognized by the pink purple flowers, with the large callus white, flowers large, sepals 1.04 to 1.32" [26 to 33] mm long, straight, the petals straight, linear-triangular .04" [1 mm] wide at the base, and the lip formed by 3, sub-parallel lobes, the lateral lobes about half as long as the entire lip, sub-rhombic, acuminate. It very much resembles Epidendrum mainauanum , which is superficially similar, with flowers entirely white, sepals .88" [22 mm] long, and has shorter sub-quadrate lateral lobes that are only about ¼ the length of the entire lip. The species has been confused with E. blepharoclinium Rchb.f. which is quite similar but the lip is wider in all its parts, the mid-lobe rhombic, about as wide as it is long, the petals as wide as the sepals which are only .92" [23 mm] long. Epidendrum vinosum Schltr. has pale wine-colored flowers, sepals and petals .68" [17 mm] long, oblong, apex obtuse to sub-truncate, the lip reminiscent of a three-corner hat, the lateral lobes retrorse, and with a large white callus, covering most of the mid-lobe. Epidendrum hookerianum Rchb.f. is similar but the sepals and petals are very narrow, the lateral lobes are semi-ovate, deeply fimbriate towards the apex of the outer margin, and the mid-lobe is linear-lanceolate, the margin sub-dentate and has a mid-rib running down the middle." Hagsater etal 2018
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Orchidacearum 16[1] Plate 1606 Hagsater & Santiago 2018 See recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 16(1): t. 1620 Hagsater etal 2018 drawing/photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 16[1] Plate 1639 Hagsater 2018 See recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 18(2) Plate 1855 Hagsater & Jimenez 2021 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 18(2) Plate 1898 Hagsater & Jimenez 2021 see recogntion section
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