Epidendrum gracilibracteatum Hágsater & Dodson 2001 GROUP Alpicolum SUBGROUP Pergracile

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

LATE EARLY

Common Name or Meaning The Graceful Bracted Epidendrum

Flower Size .6" [1.5 cm]

Found in southern Ecuador at elevations around 2800 to 3000 meters as a medium sized, cold growing epiphyte with terete below, laterally compressed above, arising from near the middle of the previous stem carrying 4 along the apical 1/2, lanceolate, acute, unequal leaves that blooms in the late fall and early winter on a terminal, from the mature stem, racemose, arching, 4.8" [12 cm] long including the 2" [5 cm] long, erect peduncle, rachis producing other racemes from the nodes over various years, simultaneously 25 to 30 flowered inflorescence with linear-triangular, acuminate, much longer to as long as the ovary floral bracts and carrying flowers with the yellow lip facing the rachis and with tepals pinkish yellow and a red anther.

"Epidendrum gracilibracteatum belongs to the GROUP Alpicolum SUBGROUP Pergracile characterized by the sympodial, caspitose to sometimes somewhat creeping habit, stems cane-like, simple, several leaved, with an elongate, apical, racemose, lax-flowered inflorescence, the flowers are star-shaped, membranaceous, the lip 3-lobed, not fleshy thickened, bicallose, the mid-lobe rectangular to triangular, the lateral lobes dolabriform to semi-orbicular. The species is distinguished by the repent habit, simultaneous flowers with large, prominent floral bracts, lateral lobes of the lip semiovate, forming a subrectangular angle in front, the outer margin erose, the front margin entire, apical lobe triangular, acute, and the apical margins thickened. Epidendrum pergracile has longer leaves, larger flowers, a more elongate inflorescence, and the floral bracts only up to slightly longer than the ovary. Epidendrum rhodoides Hágsater & Dodson has a lax-flowered inflorescence, the midlobe of the lip subquadrate; the petals are 5-veined, about as wide as the dorsal sepal and about .4" [10 mm] long, floral bracts shorter than the ovary. Epidendrum vidal-senegei Hágsater & Dodson has larger flowers, the sepals .52 to .64" [13 to 6 mm] long, and the petals linear, half as wide as the sepals, and floral bracts about as long as the ovary." Hagsater etal 2001

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 440 Hagsater & Sanchez 2001 drawing fide;

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