Epidendrum lophotropis Hágsater & Dodson 2004 GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Diothonea
Photo by © Eric Hagsater
TYPE Drawing by © Lopez and The AMO Herbaria Website
LATE
EARLIER 
Common Name The Crested Keel Epidendrum
Flower Size .6” [1.5 cm]
Found in central and southern Ecuador on both sides of the Andes at elevations of 2100 to 3300 meters as a small to medium sized, cold growing epiphyte or terrestrial with cane-like, straight, branching near the apex, branches shorter, terete stems carrying 8 to 11, all along the apical 2/3’s of the stem, the lower ones deciduous, subcoriaceous, erect, narrowly oblong-lanceolate, subrounded apically, somewhat bilobed, with a low dorsal keel, margin entire leaves that blooms in the late spring, summer through earlier fall on a terminal, occuring only once, racemose, peduncle terete, thin, provided with a narrow triangular, acuminate bract, the short rachis hidden by the floral bracts, subcorymbose, somewhat arching-nutant, simultaneously 10 to 15 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, narrowly triangular, acuminate, one veined floral bracts and carrying resupinate, dull orange flowers.
"Epidendrum lophotropis belongs to the GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Diothonea which is characterized by the branching habit, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, bilobed leaves, arching-nutant, racemose inflorescence, membranaceous or rarely fleshy flowers, tne lip entire to 3-lobed, with an erose margin, ecallose, with 1 to 10 thin, glabrous to erose keels, the column united to the lip from totally to obliquely to free, the anther reniform. The new species is recognized by the resupinate, dull orange flowers, the short, straight, column, basally united to the lip which is flat, in a straight plane, without forming a sac at the base, and has 7 crested keels, the 3 central ones strongly knobby. At a glance, the herbarium specimens look somewhat like those of Epidendrum restrepoanum but it has the lip with 5 to 7 low, smooth, keels, the flowers scarlet red, the lip and column yellow, and dorsally pustulate sepals. Epidendrum eugenii Schltr. but that species has violet flowers, a sac-like base of the lip and 3 simple, straight. keels, and acuminate floral segments. Epidendrum podocarpophyllum Schllr. has a subreniform lip, .16 x .24" [4 x 6 mm], 3-keeled, with the flowers salmon red and salmon yellow." Hagsater etal 2004
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 756 Hagsater & Dodson 2004 drawing fide; Orquideologia Vol 24 #1 2005 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 979 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 18(1) plate 1841 Hagsater, Santiago and Medina 2020 see recognition section
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