Epidendrum klugii Hágsater & L.Sánchez 2009 GROUP Difforme

TYPE Drawing by Jimenez and The AMO Herbaria Website

Common Name Klug’s Epidendrum [American Orchid Collector 1900’s]

Flower Size 1” [2.5 cm]

Found in the Amazon basin of northern Peru in evergreen forests at elevations of 800 to 1600 meters as a small to medium sized, warmm to cool growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, terete, slightly flexuous stems carrying 3 to 9, all along the stem, narrowly elliptic-lanceolate, coriaceous, smooth, apex retuse to unequally bilobed, low dorsal rounded keel, margin entire leaves that blooms in the fall and winter on a terminal, arising on a mature stem, peduncle inconspicuous, subumbellate, simultanoeulsy 3 to 4 flowered inflorescence with half to 1/3 as long as the ovary, narrowly elliptic, acute, amplexicaul floral bracts and carrying resupinate, concolor, herb green to yellowish green flowers.

"Epidendrum klugii belongs to the GROUP Difforme which is characterized by the caespitose, sympodial plants, fleshy, pale green to glaucous leaves, apical inflorescence, sessile, rarely with a short peduncle, one-flowered to corymbose, without spathaceous bracts, fleshy, green to yellowish-green rarely white flowers.The species is recognized by the tall terete stems, narrowly elliptic-lanceolate leaves, 3 to 4 flowered inflorescence, concolor green to yellowish green flowers, linear-elliptic petals, the 3-lobed lip with small, subglobose calli, an undulate margin, semi-circular lateral lobes, and a trapezoid midlobe formed by two semi-ovate lobes with a sinus in the middle. It is similar to Epidendrum chlorocorymbos which is widely distributed in Mesoamerica and coastal Venezuela, and has 10 to 20 or more flowers per inflorescence, oblanceolate petals, the margin of the lip entire, and the midlobe transversely oblong. Epidendrum carnevali Hágsater & L.Sánchez, found in Colombia, Venezuela and Peru has somewhat laterally compressed stems, greenish white flowers, divergent calli, with the midlobe of the lip short and wide, formed by two divergent, acute lobes, the column and ovary are papillose. Epidendrum campacci Hágsater & L.Sánchez is endemic to Brazil, has wider leaves .64 to 1.04" [1.6-2.6 cm] wide, smaller flowers, sepals .68 to 6.16" [14.5 to 15.4 mm] long, and the lobes of the midlobe wide and short, rounded. Epidendrum pseudodifforme Hoehne, also from Brazil, also has wider leaves, .6 to .68" [1.5 to 1.7 cm] wide, the margin of the lip crenulate, and the column slightly arched." Haagsater etal 2009

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 12 Plate 1257 Hagsater & Santiago 2009 drawing fide

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