Epidendrum hemihenomenum Hágsater & Dodson 2004 GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Diothonea
Photo Ventura/TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
EARLY
Common Name The Half United Epidendrum [refers to the column and lip that are united at the basal half]
Flower Size .8" [2 cm]
Found in southern Ecuador on the western side of the Andes in cloud forests at elevations of 3000 meters as a small to medium sized, cold growing epiphyte with cane-like, arising from the upper internodes of the previous stem, erect, terete, thin, straight, tinted purple stems carrying numerous, all along the stem, 5 persistent at the apex, subcoriaceous, articulate, distichous, linear-lanceolate, rounded apically, minutely bilobed, minutely dorsally keeled, purple tinted, margin entire leaves that blooms in the early summer on an apical, arching-nutant, occuring only once, short to 1" [2.5 cm] long, terete, thin, successively to 4, 9 flowered inflorescence with triangular-ovate, as long as the ovary, acute floral bracts and carrying 4 open at once, resupinate, fleshy, reddish brown flowers.
"Epidendrum hemihenomenum belongs to the GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Diothonea which is characterized by the branching plants, linear-lanceolate to oblong, bilobed leaves, racemose, arching-nutant inflorescence, membranaceous, rarely fleshy flowers the entire to 3-lobed, ecallose lip with the margin erose, with or without 1 to 10 thin, smooth to erose keels, the column completely to obliquely united to the lip, the anther reniform. The species has short inflorescences, 1" [2.5 cm] long, fleshy flowers, sepals and petals partly spreading, reddish brown, sepals apically and dorsally rugose, petals oblong, lip transversely elfiptic, without keels, base widely cuneate, the apex mucronate, 4-lobed and the column only unlted along the basal half of the lip. It is similar to Epidendrum cleistocoleum which has spreading, greenish brown sepals and petals with red or reddish dots and the lip deep red to purple, the sepals dorsally smooth, petals linear-lanceolate, the lip has multiple thickened veins and is not mucronate, and the column is free with a pair of rounded wings at the base. Epidendrum aureoglobiflorum Hágsater & Dodson has a short .4" [1 cm] long, greenish yellow sepals, yellow petals and lip, the sepals dorsally with reddish brown warts, petals oblong-lanceolate, lip subreniform with the base deeply cordate, and the column obliquely united to the lip. Epidendrum ardens Kraenzl. of the GROUP Andean SUBGROUP Fritzianum has somewhat similar flowers, though these are scarlet red, orange or rarely reddish brown, longer inflorescences, 2 to 3" [5 to 7.5 cm] long, sepals are dorsally papillose, petals linear, lip reniform, deeply cordate at the base, bicallose, and the column is totally united to the lip." Hagsater etal 2004
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 742 Hagsater & Sanchez 2004 drawing fide; Orquideologia Vol 24 #1 2005 photo ok; Icones Orchidacearum 14 Plate 1474 Hagsater & Sanchez 2013 see recognition section; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 Photo fide;
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
