Epidendrum niveocaligarium Hágsater 2006 GROUP Oerstedella SUBGROUP Verrucosum

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

LATE

Common Name The White Strapped Footgear Epidendrum [refers to the lip shape]

Flower Size .56" [1.4 cm]

Found in southern Panama at elevations around 450 to 700 meters as a medium sized, hot to warm growing epiphyte with an erect, simple, cane-like, terete, thin, straight stem carrying 5, towards the apex, alternate, articulate, grass-like, narrowly lanceolate, margin entire, acute leaves that blooms in the winter on a terminal, on a mature stem, occuring only once, racemose, slightly arching, peduncle short to .2" [5 mm] long, terete, thin, 1.4" [3.5 cm] long, densely, simultaneously to 22 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acute, gradually shorter above floral bracts and carrying resupinate, pure white flowers.

"Epidendrum niveocaligarium belongs to the GROUP Oerstedella which is characterized by the sympodial habit, mostly verrucose stems and the rostellum which is perpendicular to the axis of the column instead of parallel, forming a wide, open sinus, and without a viscidium and the SUBGROUP Verrucosum , recognized by the small to medium sized, membranaceous flowers with sepals and petals immaculate, a bilobed clinandrium-hood slightly surpassing the body of the column, obovoid, subequal pollinia with long granulose caudicles. The species is recognized by the thin stems, white, inmaculate flowers, deeply 5-laciniate lateral lobes of the lip and the column and lip forming a 70° angle. It is nearly identical to Epidendrum caligarium Rchb.f. from western Panama which has rosy purple flowers, with the angle between the lip and column about 45° wide, and the clinandrium-hood deeply slit. The Mexican (Isthmus of Tehuantepec) Epidendrum macdougalii (Hágsater) Hágsater is vegetatively also very similar, but the lobes of the lip are narrow and entire, neither dentate nor deeply laciniate ." Hagsater etal 2006

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 815 Hagsater and Sanchez 2006 see recognition section; * Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 860 Hagsater & Sanchez 2006 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 8 Plate 869 Hagsater & Sanchez 2006 see recognition section; Orchids of the Darien Gap Kolanowska 2014 drawing fide;

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