Epidendrum guanacasense Hágsater & Dodson 1993 GROUP Brevivenium

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

Common Name or Meaning The Paramo de Guanacas Epidendrum [The Type locality in Colombia]

Flower Size .4" [1 cm]

Found in southeast Colombia and northern Ecuador in dense cloud forests at elevations around 3000 to 3500 meters as a miniature to small sized, cold growing, repent epiphyte with erect, arising from the 2nd to 3rd internode of the previous stem thus spaced along the repent rhizome, flexuous stems carrying 9 to 18, evenly all along the stem, subcoriaceous, ovate, dorsally carinate near the apex, somewhat wrinkled leaves that blooms on a terminal, on a mature stem, occuring only once, racemose, erect, occasionally arcuate, compact, short peduncle with 2 to 5, conduplicate, tubular-amplexicaul, incurved bracts, mostly simultaneously 20 or more flowered inflorescence with narrowly triangular, acuminate, incurved, much shorter than the ovary, progressively shorter floral bracts and carrying resupinate, non-fragrant, brownish cream flowers.

"Epidendrum guanacasense belongs to the GROUP Brevivenium characterized by the repent rhizomes with erect, thin, few-leaved stems, and a pair of conduplicate tubular spathaceous bracts at the apex; the inflorescence is erect, with prominent floral bracts; the lip appears 7-lobed. The species can be easily recognized at first glance by its somewhat creeping hsbit with the thick, erect stems covered by small, ovate, coriaceous leaves, and the erect, racemose, compact inflorescence without a spathe, with 2 to 5 bracts surrounding the basal portion of the peduncle. Its closest relative is E. brevivenium Lindl., which has similar habit but larger plants with fewer, thinner leaves, and has two clearly distinct spathe-like bracts at the base of the inflorescence. Epidendrum guanacasense is comparatively a much more compact plant. " Hagsater etal 1993

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 140 Hagsater & Dodson 1993 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 422 Hagsater 2001 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 12 Plate 1236 Hagsater 2009 see recognition section; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 drawing/Photo fide;

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