Epidendrum jefestigma Hágsater & García-Cruz 1999 GROUP Ramosum SUBGROUP Platystigma

TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez and The AMO Herbaria Website

EARLIER

Common Name The Cerro Jefe Platystigma Group Epidendrum

Flower Size .75 to 1” [1.8 to 2.5 cm]

Found in Panama on the Pacific slope in rain forest at elevations of 800 to 900 meters as a giant sized, warm growing epiphyte with branched, terete, cane-like stems carrying all along the main stem but when it branches they are deciduous, on the branches persistent, all along the stem, elliptic, obliquely bilobed, those on the main stem longer and deciduous, on the branches shorter but persistent leaves that blooms in the summer on a terminal, arising on the branches, occuring only once, racemose, distichous, slightly arcuate, simultaneously 2 to 4 flowered inflorescence with conduplicate, longer than the ovary, widely ovate, obtuse floral bracts and carrying resupinate, whitish green flowers with the lip and column white.

"Epidendrum jefestigma belongs to the GROUP Ramosum SUBGROUP Platystigma characterized by the monopodial, erect plants with a clear primary stem, branching occurs from the axil of the leaves, producing short, few, small leaved branches, and these produce successive, short branches from a subapical internode, thus an old plant has numerous branches, these progressively made of fewer elements, and often lacking the juvenile, long leaves, at this stage the plant attains full flowering and often dies. The species is recognized by its large plants with elliptic leaves, secondary and tertiary branches with leaves .6 to 2" x .28 to .68" [1.5 to 5 x 0.7 to 1.7 cm], the floral bracts widely ovate, .32 to .52" [0.8 to 1.3 cm] long, f1owers whitish green, the lip and column white, ovary straight, sepals elliptic, the laterals lanceolate, acute, strongly carinate, keel erose, .12 to .28" [3 to 7 mm] wide, lip subcircular, base truncate, callus bilobate, clinandrium erose. Epidendrum ramonianum has flowers white, column green, ovary arcuate, lip widely ovate, base truncate, callus tridentate. Epidendrum penneystigma Hágsater & Carcía-Cruz has secondary and tertiary branches with leaves .6 to 2" x .18 to .6" [1.5 to 5 x 0.7 to 1.5 cm], floral bracts not imbricate, flowers white, sepals elliptic lanceolate, lip semicircular-flabellate." Hagsater etal 1999

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 318 Hagsater & Sanchez 1999 see recognition section; * Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 340 Hagsater & Garcia-Cruz 1999 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 368 Hagsater 1999 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 372 Hagsater 1999 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 397 Hagsater 1999 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 11 Plate 1127 Hagsater 2008 see recognition section;

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