Epidendrum melanogastropodium Hágsater & Dodson 2004 GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Gastropodium
TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
Photo by © Eric Hunt
LATE
THROUGH
Common Name The Black Column with the Inflated Belly Epidendrum
Flower Size .6" [1.5 cm]
Found in Ecuador on the western slopes of the Andes at elevations of 2400 to 3600 meters as a miniature to medium sized, cold growing terrestrial or rarely epiphyte with branching throughout the length of the main, terete, thin stem, branching again from the upper internodes of the secondary stems and carrying 5 to 8, from the branches on the upper half of the stem, coriaceous, narrowly lanceolate, truncate apically, bilobed, margin minutely crenulate to entire leaves that blooms in the late spring through fall on a terminal, peduncle with a peduncular bract similar to the floral bracts, racemose, nutant, occuring only once, terete, 7 to 12 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acute floral bracts and carrying successively opening, resupinate, cup-shaped, non-fragrant flowers.
"Epidendrum melanogastropodium belongs to the GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Gastropodium characterized by the small, usually brightly-colored pink to purple flowers on a subsphaerical inflorescence, lip more or less cordiform, united to the basal half of the column. The new species is recognized by the deep cerise-purple flowers with a usually black column and anther, and the orange cushion, the often wide, nearly circular, rounded floral segments, the cushion is an amorphous fleshy structure, without keels on the lip. It closely resembles E. gastropodium which has acute floral segments, the lip with a fleshy amorphous cushion ending in three short keels, the column and anther are purple. Epidendrum eugenil Schltr. has acute floral segments, the lip without any thickening at the base, has 3, long, parallel keels, the column is purple. Epidendrum mesogastropodium Hagsater & Dodson has pink flowers, a burgundy red to black column, ovate-emptic, subacute sepals, the cushion of the lip reddish to orange and truncate, not ending in keels; the base of the lip is orange.." Hagsater etal 2004
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 731 Hagsater and Sanchez 2004 see recognition section; * Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 758 Hagsater & Salazar 2004 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 759 Hagsater and Sanchez 2004 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 765 Hagsater and Sanchez 2004 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 935 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section; Orquideologia Vol 24 #1 2005 photo good;
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