Epidendrum lutheri Hágsater 1993 GROUP Polychlamys SUBGROUP Polychlamys

TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez and The AMO Herbaria Website

LATE EARLY

Common Name Luther’s Epidendrum [American Bromeliad Specialist at Marie Selby Botanical Garden in Sarasota Florida and collector of the type species died 2012]

Flower Size 1.2” [3 cm]

Found in Panama in cloud forests at elevations around 1600 meters as a mini-miniature to miniature sized, cool growing lithophyte with erect, new stem arising from the median internode of the previous stem carrying 2 to 4, towards the apex of the stem, elliptic-lanceolate, minutely 3 dentate to aristate, subcoriaceous, basally conduplicate leaves that blooms in the late spring and early summer on a terminal, arising on a mature stem, occuring only once, shorter than the leaves, racemose, arcuate, somewhat zigzag, lax, provided at the base with 2 to 3 conduplicate, imbricating bracts, simultaneously 5 to 6 flowered inflorescence with ovate, acute, conduplicate, many veined floral bracts and carrying resupinate green flowers.

"Epidendrum lutheri belongs to the GROUP Polychlamys SUBGROUP Polychlamys characterized by the successive lateral growths arising from the middle of the previous stem carrying a few leaves towards the apex and has a distichous, apical inflorescence with prominent, conduplicate, acute, glumaceous floral bracts. The species can be identified by the lax inflorescence, the 5-veined, .56 to .6" {14 to 15 mm] long and .16" [4 mm] wide sepals, the elliptic petals, and the lip almost twice as long as wide. It is closely related to E bugabense Hágsater, which has red flowers and the lip about as wide as long." Hagsater etal 1993

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 115 Hagsater & Sanchez 1993 see recognition section; * Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 154 Hagsater & Dodson 1993 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 8 Plate 829 Hagsater & Sanchez 2006 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 8 Plate 883 Hagsater & Sanchez 2006 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 9 Plate 911 Hagsater & Sanchez 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 999 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section; Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama Dressler 1993;

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------