Epidendrum medusichilum Hagsater, E Santiago & Gal.-Tar. 2020 GROUP Jatunsachanum

LCDP Photo by © R. Galindo T. & A. Cisneros and Icones Orchidacearum 18(1) plate 1821 2020

LATER

Common Name The Jellyfish Epidendrum [refers to the fleshy lip with the fimbriate lip reminiscent of a jellyfish]

Flower Size .8" [2 cm]

Found in Valle de Cauca department of Colombia in wet humid forests at elevations around 1250 metes as a large to giant sized, cool growing caespitose, arching epiphyte with simple, cane-like, thin, straight, arching; new plantlets or keikis produced from the internodes of older stems and carrying numerous, distributed throughout the stems, alternate, articulate, sub-coriaceous, sub-plicate, green, concolor, of similar size and shape, lanceolate, long-acuminate, margin entire, spreading leaves that blooms in the later spring on a terminal, peduncle 5.6" [14 cm] long, thin, ancipitose, pale green, provided with 5 buff-colored, tubular along the basal half bracts, laterally compressed, conduplicate along the apical half, acuminate, partly imbricated, decreasing in size, rachis 2" [5 cm] long, terete, thin, slightly sinuous, racemose, nutant, the flowers laxly distributed along the rachis, simultaneously 11 flowered inflorescence with narrowly trianguular, acuminate, embracing, shorter than the ovary floral bracts and carrying horizontally spreading, lip downward facing, without fragrance data.

"Epidendrum medusichilum belongs to the GROUP Jatunsachanum, which is recognized by the caespitose habit, numerous narrow leaves, the apical inflorescence in young stems, the lateral inflorescences in mature plants of some species, the inflorescences producing new racemes through time, the lip with margins fimbriate, and the pollinia obovoid, not “bird-wing” type. The species is recognized by the arching stems with sub-plicate, lanceolate, long-acuminate leaves, the inflorescence with a long peduncle, the laxly 11 flowered raceme, flowers spreading horizontally and lip facing downwards, pale buff colored, column and lip white, the lip transversely elliptic, fleshy, convex, the margins revolute, fimbriate, hyaline, sepals .36 to .4" [9.0 to 10 mm] long, dorsally pustulate towards the apex, and the ovary pubescent. Epidendrum jatunsachanum Dodson & Hágsater is vegetatively similar, but produces solitary, successive flowers, sepals .64 [16 mm] long, yellowish brown inside, dorsally green, lip white heavily dotted with purple, the 3-lobed lip has lateral lobes obliquely rectangular, and the mid-lobe is flabellate, ovary unornamented. Epidendrum hajekii Vásquez & Dodson has linear-lanceolate leaves, 3 flowers, sepals .46 to .64" [11.5 to 16 mm] long, greenish brown and the lip white tinged purple, lip 3-lobed, the lateral lobes sub-quadrate, and the ovary unornamented." Hagsater & Cisneros 2020

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 18(1) plate 1821 Hagsater & Santiago 2020 photos fide;

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