Epidendrum kerryae Hágsater & L.Sánchez 1994 GROUP Difforme
Photo by Rolando Jiménez Machorro and The Epidendra Website
TYPE Drawing by © Roland Jimenez Machorro and The AMO Herbario Website
Original Drawing by © Padre Pedro Ortiz Conserved at the Herbario de la Universidad Javeriana, Bogota Colombia
EARLY
Common Name Kerry's Epidendrum [Mrs. Dressler's Epidendrum]
Flower Size 1/2" [1.25 cm]
Found in Choco department of Colombia and Ecuador in the Pacific lowland forests at elevations around 100 to 900 meters as a small to just medium sized, hot to warm growing epiphyte with erect, slightly flattened, flexuous, cane-like stems carrying oval, subcoriaceous, elliptic-ovate, retuse to bilobed apically leaves that blooms in the winter through early summer on a terminal, occuring only once, sessile, fasciculate, simultaneously 1 to 2 flowered inflorescence with a shorter than the ovary, ovate, rounded floral bract.
"Epidendrum kerryae belongs to the GROUP Difforme which is characterized by the caespitose, sympodial plants, fleshy light green to glaucous leaves, apical inflorescence without any spathe, sessile, rarely with a short peduncle, one-flowered to corymbose, fleshy, and flowers green to yellowish-green, rarely white. The species is recognized by the single, successive, large flowers, disc of the lip with somewhat thickened central veins on the lip, clinandrium hood prominent, its margin entire, ovary forming a prominent vesicule behind the periant, and the trigonous pedicellate ovary dorsally flat. Epidendrum platychilum Schltr. is very similar and has been seen growing together with E. kerryae in Cauca, also has a trigonous pedicilate ovary, has many thickened veins on the base of the lip, and the lip is wider; the clinandrium-hood is fimbriate, the ovary is not thickened forming any vesicule. Epidendrum rhizomaniacum Rchb.f. from southern Ecuador also has a trigonous ovary, its 2 to 3 simultaneous flowers are white, and roots are produced from in between the leaves throughout the stem. Epidendrum hunterianum Schltr. from Costa Rica to Antioquia, Colombia has 4 to 6 simultaneous green flowers, lip is sub-orbicular, cordate, and lacks any thickened veins. Epidendrum tobarii Hágsater & Dodson from Ecuador has short plants, about 4.8" [12 cm] tall, single flowers, sepals and petals narrowly elliptic, petals are adnate to the basal third of the column, narrowly elliptic, and the lip is sub-quadrate with numerous thickened veins, the column long and arching with a prominent, erose-dentate clinandrium." Hagsater etal 2018
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
*Orquideología Vol 19 #2 pg 38-44. Hagsater & Sanchez 1994 drawing/photos fide; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 4 COS 1994 photo fide;
Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 796 Hagsater and Sanchez 2004 see recognition section; Orquideas de la Serrania del Baudo Misas Urreta 2005 drawing/photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 972 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section;
Icones Orchidacearum Part 12 Plate 1276 Hagsater 2009 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 14 Plate 1421 Hagsater & Santiago 2013 See recognition section;
Icones Orchidacearum 14 Plate 1471 Hagsater & Sanchez 2013 see recognition section; Orchids of the Department of Valle De Cauca Colombia Vol 2 Kolanowska, Hagsater etal. 2014 drawing/photo fide;
Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1535 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 see recognition section; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 Drawing/Photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 16[1] Plate 1632 Hagsater & Santiago 2018 photos fide;
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