Epidendrum micromarciae Hágsater & E.Santiago 2018 GROUP Mancum SUBGROUP Mancum
TYPE LCDP © by E. Hágsater & C. Álvarez /TYPE Photo © Eric Hagsater and The AMO Herbario Website
Common Name The Smallest E Marciae Epidendrum [refers to its smaller size than E marciae In honor of 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 paper on the Flora and Vegetation of Cuicocha, published in 2003. current]
Flower Size .4" [1 cm]
Found in Ecuador in the Canton of Sigchos, in the valley south of the Illinizas mountains, basin of the Río Toachi, on live fence shrubs of Euphorbia laurifolia Lam. together with Epidendrum marciae, and other various low trees in wet cloud forest, at elevations of 2640 to 2970 meters as a small sized, cold growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, fleshy, thickened, laterally compressed stems, base nearly completely covered by 2 tubular, obtuse, striated sheaths and carrying 3 distributed along the apical half of the stem, alternate, articulate; leaf somewhat laterally compressed, rugose, yellow-green, blade linear-oblong, conduplicate at the base, apex bilobed, coriaceous, green with the veins marked in pale green, margin entire, spreading leaves that blooms in the fall on a terminal, arising through an oblong, acute, tubular, laterally compressed, ancipitose spathe, peduncle 2.2 to 2.4" x .64" [5.5 to 6.0 x 1.6 cm], without bracts; rachis 1.8 to 2.8" [4.5 to 7.0 cm] long, straight. 4 to 5.2" [10 to 13 cm] long overall, racemose, erect, neqarly simultaneously 12 to 14 flowered inflorescence with about half as long as the ovary, triangular, acuminate, embracing floral bracts and carrying. nonresupinate flowers with the sepals and petals brown, the base, apex and margins of the petals green, lip white with purple dots on the calli, mid-rib, and apex of the column.
"Epidendrum micromarciae 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 overall smaller size compared to E. marciae, a single spathe, inflorescence lax, fewer flowered, petals .2 to .22 x .08" [5.0 to 5.5 x 2.0 mm], narrowly oblong-obovate, obtuse, and the entire lip, .6 x .8" [1.5 x 2.0 mm], with a mid-rib in between the calli and slightly surpassing them. E. marciae is very similar, but somewhat larger overall, also has 2 to 4 leaved stems, leaves 1.4 to 3.2" x .28 to .56" [3.5 to 8.0 x 0.7 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 Hágsater & Dodson has a solitary leaf 4.4 to 5.2" x .8 to .88" [11 to 13 x 2.0 to 2.2 cm], single, ancipitose spathe covering the whole peduncle, obovate petals .321 to .32" x .14 to .148" [7.8 to 8.0 x 3.5 to 3.7 mm], with the margin undulate and laminar, and entire, reniform lip .192 to .2" x .26 to .292" [4.8 to 5.0 x 6.5 to 6.8 mm], 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, petals .208 to .22" x .08 to .092" [5.2 to 5.5 x 2.0 to 2.3 mm], spatulate, apex obtuse, but 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], the inflorescence subtended by single spathe, flowers red-brown, column and lip white, petals .2 to .24" x .12 to .16" [5.0 to 6.0 x 3.0 to 4.0 mm], asymmetrically spatulate, obtuse, marginally entire to sinuate, and a reduced, entire, sub-quadrate lip .192 to .2" x .096 to .14" [4.8 to 5.0 x 2.4 to 3.5 mm]." Hagsater etal 2018
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidacearum 16[2] Plate 1685 Hagsater & Sanchez 2018 LCDP/photo fide;
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