Epidendrum megaloclinium Hágsater & Dodson 2001 GROUP Andean SUBGROUP Vernixium

TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez and The AMO Herbaria Website

Common Name The Large Clinandrium Epidendrum

Flower Size 2” [5 cm]

Found in central Ecuador on the eastern slope of the Andes at elevations of 2500 to 3100 meters as a giant sized, cold growing terrestrial with cane-like, branching above, laterally compressed stems carrying numerous on the main stem, 4 to 8 along the branches, all along the stem, oblong to ovate, round to retuse to unequally bilobed apically, subcoriaceous, margin entire leaves that blooms in the fall and winter on numerous, lateral, arising at the base of a leaf sheath, from a mature part of the stem, without a spathe, opposite a leaf, racemose, pendent, laxly successively 20 to 52 flowered inflorescence with all the flowers eventually open at once, and with much shorter than the ovary, linear-triangular, acuminate, amplexicaul floral bracts and carrying resupinate, non-fragrant flowers with green sepals, the petals, column and lip are white and the apex of the column, calli and disc of the lip are decorated with pale purple.

"Epidendrum megaloclinium belongs to the GROUP Andean SUBGROUP Vernixium characterized by the monopodial, sub-apical branching habit, erect, inflorescences, lax, non-resupinate flowers, the lip 3-lobed. The species has large erect stems, branching above, with subcoriaceous, rounded leaves and entire lip, and is recognized by the acuminate, .6 to 1" [15 to 25 mm] long sepals, cordiform, slightly 3-lobulate lip with prominent keels and the prominent, funnel-shaped clinandrium. Epidendrum pallatangae is similar but has smaller flowers, the sepals .56 to .64" [14 to 16 mm] long, with a smaller clinandrium, and distributed along the Pacific side of the Andes from Lake Cuicocha to Pallatanga." Hagsater etal 2001

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 457 Hagsater 2001 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 12 Plate 1201 Hagsater 2009 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 12 Plate 1205 Hagsater 2009 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 12 Plate 1232 Hagsater 2009 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 12 Plate 1270 Hagsater 2009 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [2] Plate 1592 Hagsater & Sanchez 2016 see recognition section;

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