Epidendrum hioramii Acuña & Alain 1960 GROUP Lanium

Drawing

Photo by © Dressler/drawing by Jimenez and The AMO Herbaria Website

EARLY

Common Name Hioram's [Jean Frange Lagorce (Hno. Hioram) (1875-1936), French priest, who taught, and collected and researched mainly lichens, mosses and ferns in eastern Cuba. He was a member of the Hermanos de La Salle.]

Flower Size .4" [1 cm]

Found only in eastern Cuba in rainforests on trees at elevations of 400 to 1000 meters as a sympodial, caespitose, mini-miniature sized, hot to cool growing epiphyte or lithophyte with an ovoid-fusiform, acute, abruptly contracted at the base pseudobulb carrying 2 to 4, shiny, ovoid, rounded to minutely apiculate, margin crenulate in the upper 1/3, mid rib prominent below, impressed above, conduplicate and obtuse below into the base leaves that blooms in the winter through early summer on an apical racemose, erect, peduncle with 3 to 4 bracts, .6 to 2" [.6 to 5 cm] long, simultaneously, 1 to 8 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acute floral bracts and carrying non-resupinate flowers.

"Epidendrum hioramii belongs to the GROUP Lanium , which is characterized by the rhizomatous plants, the stems cane-like to pseudobulbous, leaves generally aggregate towards the apex, flowers non-resupinate, more or less pubescent, pollinia 2 or 4. The species is recognized by its small plants, 2.8" [7 cm] tall including the inflorescence, with pseudobulbs, 2 to 5 ovate leaves, .28 to .48" [7 to 12 mm] wide, the apical third of the margin erose-dentate, inflorescence with 1 to 8, small, glabrous, flowers, and the widely cordiform, abruptly apiculate lip, and the lentil-shaped pollinia. Most other species in this group have dorsally pubescent sepals and ovaries, and the pollinia are more or less clavate. Epidendrum stangeanum Rchb.f. has linear, semi-terete, sulcate leaves, the sepals and ovary short pubescent, and an ecallose, transversely elliptic lip, the apical half triangular, acuminate, ecallose, and the 2 pollinia ovoid, produced from the fusion of 2 pairs of unequal pollinia. Epidendrum avicula Lindl. has pubescent sepals and ovary, the lip elliptic, acute, with a central rib and small calli forming a “T” shape, the column geniculate in relation to the ovary." Hagsater etal 2013

"The species was first described invalidly in 1936 as Hormidium hioramii Acuña and Loíg., and appeared as such in Index kewensis (Suppl. 10). The main author, Julián B. Acuña Galé, recognizing the lack of a Latin diagnosis, published it once again, this time validly, with Bro. Alain (Alain Henri Liogier) as a new species Epidendrum hioramii in a paper by Alain (1960); therefore the authors of the validly published name are “Acuña & Alain”. Alain submitted his article simultaneously to two journals: Memorias de la Sociedad Cubana de Historia Natural “Felipe Poey”. and Candollea, appearing in both two months apart, thus making the second publication superfluous (Candollea). Léon (1946) included Hormidium hioramii as a synonym of Epidendrum pygmaeum Hook., a very different species today recognized as Prosthechea pygmaea (Hook.) W.E.Higgins. Dietrich (1980) transferred it to Lanium, a genus we do not recognize as distinct from Epidendrum, but that combination is also illegitimate, because it is based on an illegitimate name. Both IPNI and Tropicos cited (2011) the authors of “Epidendrum hiorami” as “(Acuña & Loíg) Alain”, but that is wrong because they imply that the basionym is Hormidium hioramii, and that Alain published a new combination. Tropicos has now (Jan. 2012) changed the entry to “Epidendrum hiorami Acuña & A.H.Liogier”, changing the way the second author is to be cited, contravening the International Code of Nomenclature, and in addition now places it as a synonym of Encyclia pygmaea (Hook.) Dressler, thus neither recognizing it as a good species, nor the genus Prosthechea as distinct from Encyclia. The IPNI has also amended (Jan. 2012) the entry to “Epidendrum hiorami Acuña & Alain”. James Ackerman (pers. comm., 2004) obtained on loan 3 specimens from HAJB that were deposited at UPRRP as noted above; apparently the material has not been returned to date (2011)." Text by Eric Hagsater Icones 14 2013

Synonyms Hormidium hioramii Acuña & Roíg 1936; Lanium hioramii (Acuña & Roíg) H.Dietr. 1980

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1C lieferung 42 - 43 pg 2626 - 2762 Brieger 2001 as Lanium hioramii; The Orchids of Cuba Llamacho & Larramendi 2005 pohoto fide; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 985 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 14 Plate 1439 Hagsater & Sanchez 2013 drawing/photo fide; Orchid Flora of the Greater Antilles Ackerman 2014 drawing good

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