Epidendrum igneosicola G.A.Romero, Carnevali & Hágsater 2018 GROUP Secundum SUBGROUP Secundum
Photo/Drawing © by R Jimenez and The AMO Herbaria Website
Common Name The Fire Red Column Lithophytic Epidendrum
Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]
Found in Colombis and Venezuela along the Orinoco River basin, from La Urbaaa to Isla Nericagua, on both margins of the Orinoco along the border between Colombia (Vichada) and Venezuela (Amazonas); and also along rivers in Bolivar and Amazonas from represa El Guri south; lithophytic, on igneous, granitic rock at elevations of 150 to 800 meters as a large to giant sized, hot to warm growing lithophyte with simple, cane-like, terete, thin, straight stems carrying numerous, distributed throughout the apical 2/3 of the stems, enveloped by tubular, minutely striated sheaths; blade coriaceous, smooth, oblong-elliptic, green, apex rounded, margin entire leaves that blooms in the fall, winter and spring on an apical, racemose, elongate; peduncle to 20.4" [51 cm] long, elongate, terete, thin, covered nearly totally by acute to acuminate, tubular, sheaths 1.8 to 2.44" [4.5 to 6.1 cm] long; rachis ca. 1.2" [3 cm] long, abbreviated, terete; produces successive racemes from the upper internodes of the peduncle, to 21.6" [54 cm] long overall, successively, 3 to 15, 2 to 8 open at any one time, inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acute, embracing floral bracts and carrying resupinate, orange-red, non fragrant flowers with the lip orange, with a few red dots on the disc, calli and mid-rib yellow, column violet-red, the sides of the apex white, anther orange. .
"Epidendrum igneosicolum belongs to the GROUP Secundum SUBGROUP Secundum which is characterized by the caespitose habit, simple, terete, stems, numerous, oblong-elliptic, leaves, mostly elongate inflorescence, with a raceme of successive flowers, the lip with two calli and a prominent, flexuous keel. The species is recognized by the orange-red flowers, the lip orange, with a few red dots on the disc, calli and mid-rib yellow, column violet-red, the sides of the apex white, somewhat larger flowers, sepals .76 to .88" [19 to 22 mm] long, column .6" [15 mm] long, and the habit which appears to be exclusively on igneous rock outcrops along the Orinoco River in the vicinity of Puerto Ayacucho. It is similar to Epidendrum ibaguense Kunth, which is similar in every way, but has smaller flowers, sepals being .48" [12 mm] long, column .36" [8 mm] long, orange-red, the lip orange with some dots on the disc, column orange-red, sometimes orange towards the apex; this species is found exclusively in the highlands of northern Colombia on the Cordillera Central and Cordillera Oriental. There are a number of plants in the northern edge of the Gran Sabana in Venezuela and along the Pakaraima Mountains on the Venezuela-Brazil border, ranging from white with a ring of dark purple at the apex of the column to deep purple with a white square at the base of the lip, including the calli which hybridize with Epidendrum secundum Jacq. and rarely with Epidendrum macrocarpum Rich. 1792 which require further study. One form of these hybrids has been described as Epidendrum x gransabanense Carnevali & I.Ramírez 2003, and it has non-resupinate deep purple flowers, bicallose, with a white square at the base of the lip. Epidendrum odontopetalum Hágsater, from Bolivia is similar, but the smaller flowers are pink, with yellow calli, sepals .3 to .4" [7. to 10 mm] long, petals narrowly elliptic, apex rounded, apical margin dentate, and lip wider than long, .26 x .4" [6.5 x 10 mm], mid-lobe separated from the lateral lobes by a narrow, deep cleft. Hagaster etal 2018
Synonyms7
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Orchidacearum 16(1) plate 1625 Hagsater etal 2018 Drawing/photo fide
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