Epidendrum goniorhachis Schltr. 1918 GROUP Epidanthus

Photo by © Mulder & Mulder-Roelfsema

Another Angle

Inflorescence

Photos by © Franco Pupulin and the Epidendra website

Drawing

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

Part shadeWarm Cool LATERSummerTHROUGH MID Winter

Common Name The Fruit Bearing Rachis Epidendrum

Flower Size .2" [5 mm]

Found in Costa Rica at elevations of 700 to 1700 meters as a mini-miniature to small sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte with simple, produced from the 1st or 2nd node from the base of the previous stem, cane-like, terete, very thin, erect, straight stem carrying 6 to 9, all along the stem, alternate, more or less fleshy, generally deciduous, linear, rounded, margin entire, articulate below into the base leaves that blooms in the later summer through mid winter on a terminal, occuring only once, racemose, distichous, secund, suberect, laterally compressed, lax, 8 to 28 flowered inflorescence with an apical bract similar to the slightly longer than the ovary, widely triangular, acute, amplexicaul floral bracts and carrying successively opening, distichous, resupinate flowers.

The strongly fractiflex rachis and the white to yellow, coffee to red colored flowers with purple spots and an entire lip separate this from others. Epidendrum muscicolum Schltr. and E. talamancanum (Atwood) Mora-Retana & J.García, have trilobed lips.

"Epidendrum goniorhachis belongs to the GROUP Epidanthus, which is characterized by short, small, somewhat scandent plants with very thin stems, very narrow, more or less fleshy leaves, with a small, narrowly triangular, acute ligule opposite the blade, an apical, distichous, usually secund inflorescence, and 2 or 4 pollinia. The species is recognized by the strongly zigzag rachis of the inflorescence, the petals fused to the base of the column and parallel to it, the lip entire, somewhat longer than wide, triangular, auricuate at the base, and the flowers dark red with purple spots. Epidendrum selaginella Schltr. and its sister species E. stenoselaginella Hágsater & E.Santiago and E. astroselaginella Hágsater & E. Santiago, have a very similar, entire lip except that it is ecallose, flat, has very short leaves to .42" [10.5 mm] long, and greenish to greenish yellow flowers and 4 pollinia. Epidendrum muscicolum Schltr. and E. talamancanum (Atwood) Mora-Retana & J.García, both have much taller plants to 12" [30 cm] tall, the flowers white or cream-colored, the petals free, porrect, with a thickened, fleshy callus at the base, and the lip clearly 3-lobed, with the midlobe linear-subulate." Hagsater etal 2007

Synonyms Epidanthus goniorhachis (Schltr.) L.O.Williams 1940; Epidendrum fractiflexum F.Lehm. & Kraenzl. 1899;

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 19: 213. Costa Rica Schlechter 1923; The Genus Epidendrum Ames 1936 as Epidendrum goniorachis; Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 9 513 - 576 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1977 as Epidanthus gonorrhachis; Orquidea [Mexico] 9[1]: 1-190 Dressler 1983 as Epidanthus crassus; Icones Plantarum Tropicarum Plate 1313 Atwood 1989 as Epidanthus goniorachis drawing fide; Orchids Travel By Air A Pictoral Safari Mulder, Mulder-Roelfsema and Schuiteman 1990 as Epidanthus goniorachis photo fide; Manual de las Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003; Vanishing Beauty, Native Costa Rican Orchids Vol 1 Pupulin 2005 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 943 Hagsater & Sanchez 2007 drawing fide;

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