Epidendrum llaviucoense Hágsater & Dodson 2001 GROUP Excisum SUBGROUP Excisum

TYPE Drawing by Jimenez and The AMO Herbaria Website

LATE

Common Name The Laguna Llaviuco Epidendrum [A Lake in southern Ecuador]

Flower Size 1.2” [3 cm]

Found in Azuay province of Ecuador on the western slope of the Andes in montane forests at elevations of 3100 to 3200 meters as a large sized, cold growing epiphyte with erect, simple, cane-like, terete stems carrying numerous, alternate, articulate, all along the stem, elliptic, obtuse, subcoriaceous, minutely denticulate margin towards the apex leaves that blooms in the winter on a terminal, arising through 2, prominent, acute, embracing the peduncle and part of the rachis spathes, peduncle terete, racmose to paniculate [with a short branch hidden by the spathes, arching-nutant, simultaneously [fruits as well] several flowered inflorescence with much longer to shorter than the ovary, triangular, long acuminate, filiform floral bracts and carrying resupinate, white to pale green flowers with purple stripes on the outside.

" Epidendrum Ilaviucoense belongs to the GROUP Excisum SUBGROUP Excisum , characterized by the sympodial, caespitose habit and the cane-like stems carrying many leaves and 1 to 2 large spathes which give rise to a racemose to open panicle with a few branches carrying medium sized flowers with a three-lobed lip. The species, however, has non-conduplicate, acute spathes and a basically racemose inflorescence, with the lip reniform overall, though it has two small apical lobes. From the general appearance of the specimen (exduding the spathes) it looks like Epidendrum renilabium Schltr. which has somewhat similar flowers. The non-conduplicate, acute spathes gives it the appearance of Epidendrum klotzscheanum Rchb. f., which has completely different flowers, the lip deeply three-lobed, the lateral lobes dolabriform and the midlobe subrectangular and truncate. Epidendrum orthoclinium Hágsater & Dodson has a similar habit, but acute leaves, a conduplicate spathe, paniculate inflorescence and narrower floral segments, with the lip shallowly three-lobed, the large midlobe cuneate and widened at the apical half to form a spathulate, suborbicular, apiculate plate, the petals are linear-oblanceolate and acute, and a short, upright clinandrium." Hagsater etal 2001

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 4 plate 454 Hagsater & Dodson 2001 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 466 Hagsater 2001 see recognition section;

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