Epidendrum nitens Rchb. f. 1866 GROUP Spathiger SUBGROUP Rigidum

Photo by © Noble Bashor.

Drawing

Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website

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Common Name The Bright Epidendrum [refers to the glossy brilliant leaves]

Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]

Found in Oaxaca state of Mexico as well as Belize and Guatemala at elevations of 800 to 1320 meters on oaks or in humid rainforests as a small to just medium sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte with erect, simple, cane-like, laterally compressed towards the apex stems carrying 2 to 3, on the apical 1/2 of the stem, elliptic to narrowly elliptic, unequally bilobed apically, subcoriaceous, smooth, entire marginally, articulate below into the petiolate base leaves that blooms in the fall on a terminal, short, peduncle provided with 1 to 2 conduplicate,nearly perpendicular to the rachis bracts, erect, successively 4 to 7 at a time, 5 to 12 flowered inflorescence with ovate, rounded, conduplicate, longer than the ovary, progressively shorter floral bracts

"Epidendrum nitens is part of GROUP Spathiger SUBGROUP Rigidum characterized its creeping habit, simple, distichous inflorescence, with prominent, conduplicate bracts, the non-secund, mostly small flowers with the lip <.48" [12 mm] long. Epidendrum mocinoi closely resembles Epidendrum nitens, but is much larger overall, 4 to 6 leaved, with sepals usually .52 to .72" [14 to 18 mm] long, though sometimes smaller so that they would overlap in size with those of the latter which are generally .36 to .52" [9 to 13 mm] long and 2 leaved. Otherwise, the shape of the lip and other segments are very similar, E. mocinoi grows at higher altitudes." E. Hágsater 1999

Synonyms Epidendrum johannis Schltr. 1920

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI The Genus Epidendrum Ames 1936; Ceiba Vol 5 No 1 L O Williams 1956; Selbyana Vol 10 Orchids of Central America Hamer 1988 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 1 Plate 41 Hagsater & Sanchez 1990 see distribution section; Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama Dressler 1993; Guatemala Y Sus Orquideas Behar & Tinschert 1998 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 357 Hagsater 1999 see recognition section; AOS Bulletin Vol 77 No 11 2008 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 74 #2 2010 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1311 Hagsater & Sanchez 2010 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1361 Hagsater & Sanchez 2010 drawing fide; Algunas Orquideas de Mexico Tomo 1 Suarez 2013 photo fide; Orchid Genera and Species in Guatemala Archila, Szlachchetko, Chiron, Lipinska, Mystkowska and Bertolini 2018; Icones Orchidacearum 17(1) Plate 1707 Hagsater & Jimenez 2019 see recognition section

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