Epidendrum microcephalum Hágsater & L.Sánchez 1999 GROUP Difforme
TYPE Drawing by © Jimennez and The AMO Herbaria Website
Common Name The Tiny Head Epidendrum [refers to the subcorymbose inflorescence almost hidden within the apical leaf]
Flower Size .8 ” [2 cm]
Found in Venezuela on the Caribbean slope of the Andes at elevations around 1100 to 1950 meters as a small to medium sized, cool growing, caespitose epiphyte with simple, cane-like, laterally compressed, erect stems carrying 4 to 8, equidistant, all along the stem, widely elliptic-lanceolate, bilobed leaves that blooms in the spring on a terminal, occuring only once, without a spathe, on a mature stem, sessile, subcorymbose, successsively 2, 2 to 6 flowered inflorescence with shorter than the ovary, ovate, acute floral bracts and carrying resupinate, pale green flowers.
"Epidendrum microcephalum belongs to GROUP Difforme characterized by the caespitose, sympodial plants, fleshy, pale green to glaucous leaves, apical inflorescence, sessile, rarely with a short peduncle, one-flowered to many-flowered, and then corymbose, without spathaceous bracts, fleshy, green to yellowish-green rarely white flowers.
The species is recognized by longer plants, widely elliptic-lanceolate leaves, infundibuliform sheath, small flowers, sepals .4 to .48" [10 to 12 mm] long, trilobed lip, semiorbicular lateral lobes, very small, emarginate midlobe forming two semiorbicular, entire lobes. It is closely related to E. upanodifforme Hágsater & L. Sánchez, which has bigger flowers, midlobe surpasing the lateral lobes." Hagsater etal 2001
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
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Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 356 Hagsater & Sanchez 1999 drawing fide;
Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 393 Hagsater 1999 see recognition section;
Icones Orchidacearum Vol 8 Plate 827 Hagsater & Sanchez 2006 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 14 Plate 1430 Hagsater & Santiago 2013 See recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 16[1] Plate 1603 Hagsater & Santiago 2018 See recognition section;
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