Epidendrum hammelii Hágsater & L.Sánchez 1993 GROUP Difforme

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

LATE EARLY

Common Name Hammel's Epidendrum [American Orchid Enthusaist and discoverer of species]

Flower Size 1.4" [3.5 cm]

Found in Costa Rica and Panama at elevations around 200 meters as a mini-miniature sized, hot growing epiphyte with a simple, cane-like, flexuous stem carrying 4, all along the stem, coriaceous, narrowly elliptic, unequally bilobed leaves that blooms in the late winter and early spring on a terminal, occuring only once, sessile inflorescence arising on a mature stem with shorter than the ovary floral bracts and carrying 2, resupinate, simultaneously opening, apparently yellow flowers.

Separated from other species in the section Difforme by the plant less than 6" [15 cm] in size including the inflorescence, cylindrical and somewhat laterally compressed stems carrying narrowly elliptic leaves that blooms with large flowers with the indistinctly trilobed lip has a triangular mid lobe and subglobose calli and a prominently dentate-fimbriate clinandrium.

"Epidendrum hammelii is a member of GROUP Difforme which is characterized by the caespitose, sympodial plants, fleshy, pale green to glaucous leaves, apical inflorescence, sessile, rarely with a short peduncle, one-flowered to corymbose, without spathaceous bracts, fleshy, green to yellowish green, rarely white flowers. It can be recognized by the terete stems, two f1owers, lanceolate sepals, linear-elliptic petals, entire, reniform lip with retuse apex, straight column and prominent, entire clinandrium with the margin dentate-fimbriate. Vegetatively it is similar to E. gregorii Hágsater , but floral features separate them at a glance. Epidendrum schistostemum has relatively short plants, terete stems, 1 to 2 white flowers, entire, widely cordiform lip, the column with prominent, apical, lateral, obtuse lobes, the margin erose, and separated from the lip by deep sinii, the clinandrium-hood entire, with the margin dentate. " Hagsater etal 1993 & Plate 1177 2008

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 138 Hagsater & Sanchez 1993 see recognition section; * Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 143 Hagsater & Sanchez 1993 drawing fide; Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama Dressler 1993; Manual de las Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003; Icones Orchidacearum 11 Plate 1177 Hagsater 2008 see recognition section;

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