TYPE Drawing by R Jimenez M. and the The AMO Herbario Website

LATER EARLIER

Common Name Idrobo's Epidendrum [In honor of Jesús Medardo Idrobo (1917-2010), Colombian botanist, at the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales de la Universidad Nacional, Bogotá, specialized in Phanerogams, and who collected extensively in Colombia between 1933 and 1980, with many other renown botanists and whose collections are housed particularly at COL, BM, F, AMES, MEDEL and US herbaria. He collected the type material for this species.]

Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]

Found in southern Colombia on shrubs, at elevations of 2700 to 3000 meters as a medium sized, cold growing epiphyte with formed by 3 to 5 internodes, terete, the first and third provided with non-foliar, non-imbricated bracts, triangular-obovate, acuminate, dorsally carinate towards the apex, dark brown in dried material; the stems progressively longer and thinner; last segment a stem .32 to .64" x .12 to .14" [8 to 16 x 3.0 to 3.5 mm], subtended by the largest sheath, fusiform thickened, pale gray, densely dotted fuchsia; each new stem originates from the penultimate or last bract, from the base of the last internode stems carrying a single, apical, pendulous, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, dorsally carinate and aristate, base conduplicate, coriaceous, margin entire, spreading leaves that blooms in the later summer and earlier fall on a terminal, without a spathe sessile, 1 to 2 flowered inflorescence with triangular, acute, embracing floral rbacts and carrying pendulous, facing downwards flowers with the ovary and sepals green dorsally, inside lemon colored, slightly pruinose, lip lime colored, column white.

"Epidendrum idroboi belongs to the GROUP Kalopternix SUBGROUP Garayii which is recognized by pendent chain of stems, arising each from a sub-apical internode of the previous stem, each with 1 to 3 linear-lanceolate leaves, inflorescence apical, flowering only once, 1 to 2 flowered, the flowers non-resupinate, green to red to yellow, the lip cordiform, ecallose. The species is recognized by the long sympodial segments in 3 to 5 sections, two covered by non-imbricated sheaths, the last enveloping the fusiform pseudobulb, apically with a single leaf, 1.46 to 2.92" x .2 to .24" [36 to 73 x 5 to 6 mm], 1 to 2 flowered, the flower green outside, lemon colored inside with white column, sepals .48 to .6" [12.0 to 15.0 mm] long, 5-veined, lip, widely cordiform, acuminate. Very similar to Epidendrum garayi Lřjtant (replaced synonym of: Pleuranthium cardiochilum Garay) which has however 2 to 3 leaves per pseudobulb, flowers similar but greenish purple, sepals .4 to .48" [10 to 12 mm] long and lip .44 x .24 to .28" [11 x 6-7 mm], cordiform, apiculate. Epidendrum falsigarayi Hágsater & Karremans has brick red flowers. Epidendrum wolfii Hágsater & E.Santiago has short, bifoliate, cane-like stems, linear-lanceolate leaves .44 to 1.08" [1.1 to 2.7 cm] long, the sessile, 2-flowered inflorescence, successive and opposite, pink, immaculate flowers, the lip widely cordiform with the apex obtuse, the disc with a single evident, low, wide rib running down the middle. Epidendrum carmelense Hágsater & Dodson forms pseudobulbs at the end of the stems which are unifoliate, leaves are 1.4 to 2.4" [3.5 to 8.5 cm] long, with 1 to 2 greenish to ochre flowers with reddish dots, the lip is reniform, without any ribs." Hagsater etal 2019

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 17(1) Plate 1728 Hagsater & Jimenez 2019 drawing fide

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