Epidendrum ionophyllum P.Ortiz 1997 GROUP Pseudepidendrum SUBGROUP Turialvae
Photo by Jay Pfahl ©
TYPE Drawing by Padre Pedro Ortiz Drawing by Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
Common Name The Purple Leafed Epidendrum
Flower Size.6" [1.5 cm]
Found in southern Colombia in the department of Valle de Cauca at elevations around 1400 meters as a large sized, cool growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, laterally flattened, ancipitous stems carrying 7 to 12 , evenly spread through the upper 2/3's, suberect, subcoriaceous, laterally compressed, ancipitous, elliptic, acute, dark green above, purple below leaves that blooms in the spring on a terminal, racemose, producing successive racemes in time, arising from the middle of the previous peduncle, 6" [15 cm] each one, arching-nutant, 8 to 16 flowered inflorescence that is enveloped by large conduplicate bracts and narrowly triangular, acuminate floral bracts that are shorter than the ovaries and carrying resupinate, simultaneously opening flowers.
" Epidendrum ionophyllum belongs to the GROUP Pseudepidendrum SUBGROUP Turialvae characterized by the caespitose habit, cane-like stems, apical inflorescence which produces successive racemes of small flowers, the lip 3-lobed with the midlobe bilobed and usually forming two narrow, divergent lobes, the disc formed by low, fleshy keels often colored purple and the filiform petals. The species is recognized by the elongate, flexuous, ancipitose peduncle of the inflorescence, the thin, terete peduncle of each successive raceme about .92" to 1.08" [2.3 to 2.7 cm] long, and the nutant raceme of 8 to 11 flowers perfectly distributed around the axis at 45° angles, with small flowers, a sigmoid column, deeply convex lip, the lateral lobes bent backwards and appearing reflexed as the apex of the column is arched downwards. The flowers are somewhat reminiscent of E. resectum Rchb.f. from Costa Rica, because of the deeply convex lip, which is also reflexed, but the construction of the inflorescence is quite distinct, as that species only flowers once from a stem, and the margin of the lip is entire. Epidendrum jatunsachanum Dodson & Hágsater has an equally ancipitose, flexuous peduncle but the stems are hanging, the flowers single and the lobes of the fimbriate, flat lip subequal in size. The general plant habit, with successive racemes produced from an elongate, ancipitose inflorescence are reminiscent of Epidendrum anceps Jacq. of the Group Ancepsand its local relative, Epidendrum musciferum Lindl. but the flowers of that species have a straight column and the three lobes of the lip rounded and are entire, with no calli nor keels on the lip." Hagsater etal 2006
Synonyms Masdevallia hoppii Schltr. 1924; Masdevallia pachyantha var. hoppii (Schltr.) Kraenzl. 1925
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Orquideologia Vol 20 # 3 P Ortiz 1997 photo/drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 846 Hagsater 2006 Drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 11 Plate 1170 Hagsater & Sanchez 2008 see Recognition; An Illustrated Field Guide to the Orchids of the Yotoco Forest Reserve Colombia Kolanowska, Escobar, Sanchez & Szlachetko 2011 drawing/photo fide; Orchids of the Department of Valle De Cauca Colombia Vol 2 Kolanowska, Hagsater etal. 2014 drawing/photo fide; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 Photo fide;
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