Epidendrum lopezii Hágsater 1999 GROUP Pseudepidendrum SUBGROUP Paniculatum
Photo by © Lourens Grobler
TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
Common Name Lopez' Epidendrum [Colombian Nurseryman current]
Flower Size 1.2" [3 cm]
Found in upland Antioquia department of Colombia at elevations of 2200 to 2500 meters as a large sized, cold growing epiphyte or lithophyte with cane-like, terete stems carrying distichous, all along the stem, elliptic-lanceolate, acute, smooth, dark green, margin entire leaves that blooms in the winter on an apical, arising on a mature stem, paniculate, very large, laxly successively numerous flowered, several branched inflorescence with one third as long as the ovary, triangular, acuminate floral bracts carrying with resupinate flowers with greyish green on the inside sepals, dark rose lilac outside, greyish green petals, the column and the lateral lobes of the lip are rose lilac, the midlobe green, the callus pink with the apex purple, the basal half of the keels purple, the anther greenish and the ovary rose-lilac.
"E. lopezii belongs to the GROUP Pseudepidendrum SUBGROUP Paniculatum characterized by the caespitose habit with cane-like stems carrying acute to acuminate leaves usually booming on an apical inflorescence and carrying flowers with filiform petals, and a usually 3 lobed lip with 3 parallel fleshy keels, with the apical lobe often bifurcate and the "bird wing" type pollina. The species is recognized by its large, lax-flowered panicle, sepals .68 to .76" [17 to 19 mm] long, the flowers grayish inside, pinkish outside, the disk of the lip green with purple callus; the lateral lobes of the lip are oblong-rectangular and strongly retrorse, parallel to the column. It is similar to E. peraltum Schltr., a widespread species found from southern Colombia to Bolivia, which has smaller flowers with sepals .44 to .48" [11 to 13 mm] long and the lateral lobes with irregular margin and divergent, spreading, not parallel to the column." Hagsater etal 1999
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 5 # 881 Escobar-COS 1994 as Epidendrum sp. photo fide; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 6 COS 1998 errata; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 307 Hagsater 1999 see recognition section; * Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 348 Hagsater 1999 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 446 Hagsater 2001 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum Part 13 Plate 1369 Hagsater 2010 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 1526 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 see recognition section; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 drawing/photo fide;
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