Epidendrum molleturense Hágsater & Dodson 2004 GROUP Megalospathum

TYPE Drawing by © Lopez and The AMO Herbaria Website

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Common Name The Parroquia de Molleturo Epidendrum [An area of Azuay Ecuador where the type was collected]

Flower Size 1.2” [3 cm]

Found in south central Ecuador on the Pacific slope of the Andes in wet cloud forests at elevations around 2650 meters as a miniature sized, cold growing, hanging epiphyte with simple, cane-like, arising newly from the base of the previous stem, terete, somewhat flexuous stem carrying 11 all along the stem, distichous, basal leaf smaller, narrowly lanceolate, oblique, acute, coriaceous, apical margin minutely dentate leaves that blooms in the late summer and early fall on a terminal, arising through 2, elliptic-ovate, obtuse, conduplicate, margin entire spathes, short, erect, simultaneously 1 to 2 flowered inflorescence with obscured by the spathe floral bracts and carrying resupinate flowers with the petals cream red and the corolla red with a yellow point.

"Epidendrum molleturense belongs to the GROUP Megalospathum characterized by the caespitose but branching habit, many-leaved stem, fleshy, oblique leaves, a short, few flowered, raceme subtended by large semiovate spathaceous bracts, resupinate f1owers, the column obliquely united to the lip, occasionally free. The species is recognized by the large, flowers, the relatively wide petals .92 to 1"x .16 to .24" [23 to 25 x 4 to 6 mm], the suborbicular-obovate lip deep and narrowly cordate at the base, the apex roughly straight, with two small rounded calli at the base, and the clinandrium hood of the column prominently thickened. Epidendrum tigriphyllum from Antioquia, Colombia has narrower petals, the apex of the ovary swollen behind the lateral sepals, and the lip spade-like, truncate at the base, obtuse-rounded at the apex, with a single, 4-lobed callus at the base, one pair of lobes superimposed on the other. Epidendrum portillae Hágsater & Dodson has larger flowers, the sepals 1 to 1.12" [25 to 28 mm] long, .14" [3.5 mm] wide petals, the lip somewhat cordate, subovate, the margins undulate when f1attened, with two thick, laminar keels, and the slightly arching column with a prominent, entire, fleshy clinandrium." Hagsater etal 2004

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 762 P Ortiz & Hagsater 2004 drawing/photo fide;

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