Epidendrum mytigastropodium Hágsater & E.Santiago 2004 GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Gastropodium

TYPE Drawing by © Lopez and The AMO Herbaria Website

Common Name The Beak Carrying E gastropodium Epidendrum

Flower Size .2” [.5 cm]

Found in Cauca department of Colombia in very wet forests at elevations around 3000 meters as a medium sized, cold growing epiphyte with branching, arising from the apical internodes of the previous stem, cane-like, terete, erect, straight, gradually shorter stems carrying 2 to 4, aggregate towards the apex, lanceolate, unequally bilobed, minutely apiculate, subcoriaceous, smooth, margin entire leaves that blooms in the fall on a terminal, racemose, short, arching, nutant, occuring only once, peduncle very short, terete, thin, rachis terete, thin, totally hidden by the floral bracts, simultaneously 15 to 20 flowered inflorescence with half as long as the ovary, linear-lanceolate, long-acuminate floral bracts and carrying resupinate flowers without color or fragrance data but in dried specimens they are pink.

"Epidendrum mytigastropodium belongs to the GROUP Diothonea , charactrized by the branching habit, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, bilobed leaves, arching-nutant, racemose inflorescence, membranaceous or rarely fleshy f1owers, the lip entire to 3-lobed, with an erose margin, ecallose, without or with 1 to 10 thin, smooth to erose keels, the column united to the lip from totally to obliquely to free, the SUBGROUP Gastropodium which has small, usually brightly-colored pink to purple flowers, a very short inflorescence, lip more or less cordiform, united to the basal half of the column, and forming a sac at the base as it is bent down and backwards before the apex of the column, the column ending in fleshy-thickened lobes. The new species has relatively large leaves 1.04 to 2.48" x .24 to .28" [2.6 to 6.2 x 0.6 to 0.7 cm], 15 to 20 flowers, ovate, acute, 3-veined petals, a cordiform, ecallose lip with three subequal keels which are united at the apex forming a trilobulate cushion which forms a conspicuous, nose-shaped structure. It is also similar to Epidendrum eugenii Schltr. which has 6 to 25 flowers, linear-oblong petals, the ovate lip has three, narrow, low keels of the lip ending in three parallel ridges which do not unite nor form a transverse cushion. Epidendrum gastropodium has a 6 to 12 flowered short inflorescence, 2 to 2.6" [5 to 6.5 cm] long ovaries, obliquely oblong, single veined petals, and an ovate-rhombic lip. with three, short keels which form a prominent transverse cushion at the base of the lip. Epidendrum melanogastropodium Hágsater & Dodson has obtuse to rounded floral segments, and the lip has an orange-colored, transverse, prominent cushion near the base, the flowers being deep purple with the column and anther usually black." Hagsater etal 2004

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 765 Hagsater & Santiago 2004 drawing fide; Orquideologia VOl 24 #1 2005; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017;

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