Epidendrum hardingiae J.S.Moreno, Hágsater & L.Sánchez 2016 GROUP Difforme
TYPE Photos by © J S Moreno and The AMO Herbaria Website
LATE
EARLY
EARLY 
Common Name Harding's Epidendrum [American Orchid Enthusiast extrodinaire, AOS Identification expert, Patricia Harding current]
Flower Size 1.4" [3.5 cm]
Found in Antioquia department of Colombia at elevations around 2000 to 2100 meters as a medium sized, cold growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, ancipitous, flexuous stems carrying 5 to 7, throughout the stem, coriaceous, elliptic, unequally bilobed to obtuse, prominent dorsal keel, margin entire leaves that blooms in the late summer and early fall on a terminal, without a spathe, racemose, subcorymbos, simultaneously 30 to 35 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary floral bracts and carrying resupinate, green, sweetly scented flowers.
"Epidendrum hardingii belongs to the GROUP Difforme which is characterized by the caespitose, sympodial plants, fleshy light green to glaucous leaves, apical inflorescence without any spathe, sessile, rarely with a short peduncle, one-flowered to corymbose, fleshy, and flowers green to yellowish-green, rarely white. The species is recognized by the ancipitose stems, large leaves 1.6 to 2.72" x .8 to .96" [4 to 6.8" x 2 to 2.4"] wide and rarely 4 to .68" x 2 to 2.4" [10 to 17 x 5 to 6 cm] wide, 30 to 35 flowered inflorescence, sepals .8 to .84" [20 to 21 mm] long, the lip bilobed, with a long, wide, fleshy mid-rib running to the apical sinus, and the single callus, a fleshy, elevated plate, with a shallow sinus at the apex, with a drop of nectar in front on the disc of the lip. It is similar to Epidendrum pseudapaganum from southern Ecuador and Peru, which has narrower leaves 4.8 x 1.8" [12 x 4.5 cm], smaller flowers, sepals .4 to .48" {10 to 12 mm] long, an entire, reniform lip without any evident ribs, bicallose, calli separate and divergent. Epidendrum apaganum Mansf., from the basin of the Río Marañón in Peru, has shorter plants, 6.4 to 10.4" [16 to 26 cm] tall, shorter, narrower leaves 1 to 2.8' x 1 to 1.8" [2.5 to 7.0 x 2.5 to 4.5 cm], a 1 to 5-flowered inflorescence, flowers smaller with sepals .56 to .64" [14 to 16 mm] long, petals linear-oblanceolate, lip 3-lobed, with numerous thickened veins. Epidendrum fusagasugaënse E.Parra, Hágsater & L.Sánchez, endemic to the departments of Cundinamarca, Huila and Santander in Colombia, on the Eastern Cordillera has leaves shorter and wider, 3.2 to 4.8" x 1 to 2.92" [8 to 12 x 2.5 to 7.3 cm], inflorescence 3 to 5 flowered, sepals are similar in size, but the ovary is longer 1.88 to 2.4" [47 to 60 mm] long, lip also has a thickened, fleshy mid-rib, but the disc is thickened and dark green, and bicallose, the calli separate and sub-globose. Epidendrum melistagum Hágsater from Mexico shares a single callus, and the drop of nectar on the disc of the lip, but is otherwise smaller overall." Hagsater etal 2015
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 15 [2] Plate 1584 J.S.Moreno, Hágsater et L.Sánchez 2015 photos fide; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 Photo fide;
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