Epidendrum marciae Hágsater & E.Santiago 2018 GROUP Mancum SUBGROUP Mancum,
LCDP Photo © by E. Hágsater & C. Alvárez/TYPE Photo © by Eric Hagsater and The AMO Herbario Website
Common Name Marcia's Epidendrum [Marcia Cecilia Peñafiel Cevallos (1965-), Ecuadorean Botanist, Administrator of the National Herbarium of Ecuador, QCNE, who participated in the collection of the type and other specimens. Marcia has specialized in the flora of the paramos of Ecuador, in particular with her book on the Flora and Vegetation of Cuicocha, published in 2003 current]
Flower Size .6" [1.5 cm]
Found in Ecuador in the Cantón of Sigchos, along the crest of the ridge from Alluriquín, and in the valley south of the Illinizas mountains, basin of the Río Toachi, epiphytic on live fence shrubs of Euphorbia laurifolia Lam. and various low trees in wet forests, as well as terrestrial on road side banks at elevations of 2800 to 3000 meters as a just medium sized, cold growing epiphyte or terrestrial with simple, cane-like, fleshy, thickened, laterally compressed, nearly completely covered by 2 non-foliar, tubular sheaths and carrying 2 to 4 distributed along the apical half of the stem, alternate, articulate; leaf sheaths somewhat laterally compressed, rugose, yellow-green; blade oblong-elliptic, conduplicate at the base, apex slightly bilobed, minutely apiculate, coriaceous, green with the veins marked in pale green, margin entire leaves that blooms in the fall on a terminal, arising through 1 to 2, oblong, acute, tubular, laterally compressed, ancipitose spathes, peduncle 3.6 to 4.8 x .08" [9 to 12 x 0.2 cm], without bracts; rachis 2.6 to 3.6" [6.5 to 9.0 cm] long, straight, , racemose, erect, simultaneously 10 to 18 flowered inflorescence with about half as long as the ovary, triangular, acuminate, embracing floral bracts and carrying non-resupinate flowers with the sepals and petals dark brown, the base green, lip white with purple dots on the calli and apex of the column.
"Epidendrum marciae belongs to the GROUP Mancum SUBGROUP Mancum, which is characterized by the sympodial growth, narrow spathaceous bracts with parallel sides, erect raceme with non-resupinate flowers and a generally reduced, fleshy lip. The new species can be recognized by the 2-4 leaved stems, leaves 1.4 to 3.2" x .4 to .56" [3.5 to 8.0 x 1.0 to 1.4 cm], the inflorescence subtended by 1 to 2 spathes, flowers dark brown with column and lip white with purple dots on apex of column and calli, petals .22 to .24" x .132 to .16" [5.5 to 6.0 x 3.3 to 4.0 mm], obovate- spatulate, apex rounded, and lip .152 x .232" [3.8 x 5.8 mm], united to the column, reniform, base cordate, with a pair of apical incisions, thus slightly 3-lobed, apex rounded, concave in natural position; bicallose, the calli fleshy, prominent, parallel, extending to the middle of the disc or more. Epidendrum punense has a solitary leaf 4.4 to 5.2" x .08 to .88" [11 to 13 x 2.0 to 2.2 cm], single spathe covering the whole peduncle, flowers dark reddish brown, lip pale yellow with violet spots around the anther, petals .312 to .32" x .14 to .148" [7.8 to 8.0 x 3.5 to 3.7 mm], obovate with the margin undulate and lip .192 to .2" x .26 to .272" [4.8 to 5.0 x 6.5 to 6.8 mm, laminar, entire, reniform, also with a pair of incisions at the apex. Epidendrum montisillinicense Hágsater et Dodson, from the same general area is vegetatively similar, flowers also similarly colored, but petals narrower, .208 to .22' x .08 to .092" [5.2 to 5.5 x 2.0 to 2.3 mm], and the lip, .16 to .168 x .172 to .2" [4.0 to 4.2 x 4.3 to 5.0 mm], is deeply 3-lobed, lateral lobes sub-quadrate, apical margin dentate; mid-lobe sub-quadrate, apiculate. Epidendrum mancum Lindl., has 2 TO 3 wider leaves .8 to 2.4" x .52 to 1.08" [2 to 6 x 1.3 to 2.7 cm], and flowers red-brown, column and lip white, and an entire, sub-quadrate lip .192 to .2" x .096 to .14" [4.8 to 5.0 x 2.4 to 3.5 mm]. Epidendrum micromarciae Hágsater & E.Santiago is very similar but has somewhat smaller plants, 8.04 to 8.8" [21 to 22 cm] tall, leaves 1 to 2.8" x .2 to .36" [2.5 to 7.0 x 0.5 to 0.9 cm], linear-oblong, smaller flowers, sepals .228 to .236" [5.7 to 5.9 mm] long, petals .2 x .08" [5.0 x 2.0 mm], and lip very small, not wider than the column, .06 x .081' [.5 x 2.0 mm]." Hagsater etal 2018
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidacearum 16[2] Plate 1680 Hagsater & Sanchez 2018 drawing/photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 16(1) plate 1685 Hagsater etal 2018 in recognition section;
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