Epidendrum x gransabanense Carnevali & I.Ramírez 2003 GROUP Secundum SUBGROUP Secundum

Photo © by Andrew J. Crawford and The I Naturalist Website

Common Name The Gran Savannah Epidendrum

Flower Size

Found in eastern Colombia and southwestern Venezuela at elevations below 712 meters as a hot to warm growing terrestrial that is a natural hybrid between E secundum and E macrocarpum.

"There are a number of plants in the northern edge of the Gran Sabana in Venezuela and along the Pakaraima Mountains on the Venezuela-Brazil border, ranging from white with a ring of dark purple at the apex of the column to deep purple with a white square at the base of the lip, including the calli which hybridize with Epidendrum secundum Jacq. and rarely with Epidendrum macrocarpum Rich. 1792 which require further study. One form of these hybrids has been described as Epidendrum x gransabanense Carnevali & I.Ramírez 2003, and it has non-resupinate deep purple flowers, bicallose, with a white square at the base of the lip. belongs to the GROUP Secundum SUBGROUP Secundum which is characterized by the caespitose habit, simple, terete, stems, numerous, oblong-elliptic, leaves, mostly elongate inflorescence, with a raceme of successive flowers, the lip with two calli and a prominent, flexuous keel. Epidendrum igneosicolum has orange-red flowers, the lip orange, with a few red dots on the disc, calli and mid-rib yellow, column violet-red, the sides of the apex white, somewhat larger flowers, sepals .76 to .88" [19 to 22 mm] long, column .6" [15 mm] long, and the habit which appears to be exclusively on igneous rock outcrops along the Orinoco River in the vicinity of Puerto Ayacucho. It is similar to Epidendrum ibaguense Kunth, which is similar in every way, but has smaller flowers, sepals being .48" [12 mm] long, column .36" [8 mm] long, orange-red, the lip orange with some dots on the disc, column orange-red, sometimes orange towards the apex; this species is found exclusively in the highlands of northern Colombia on the Cordillera Central and Cordillera Oriental. Epidendrum odontopetalum Hágsater, from Bolivia is similar, but the smaller flowers are pink, with yellow calli, sepals .3 to .4" [7. to 10 mm] long, petals narrowly elliptic, apex rounded, apical margin dentate, and lip wider than long, .26 x .4" [6.5 x 10 mm], mid-lobe separated from the lateral lobes by a narrow, deep cleft. Adapted from E igneosicoum Icones Plate 1627 Hagaster etal 2018

Synonyms7

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Orchidacearum 16(1) plate 1627 Hagsater etal 2018 see recognition section

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