Epidendrum octomerioides Schltr. 1907 GROUP Polychlamys SUBGROUP Octomerioides
Photos by © Bogarin/Pupulin, Used under permission of the Epidendra Website CR
Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
Common Name The Octomeria-Like Epidendrum
Flower Size .4" [1 cm]
Found in Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica on trees in open fields and in cloud forests at elevations of 600 to 1650 meters as a small to just medium sized, pendant, warm to cool growing epiphyte with distant, erect, cylindrical, slightly compressed canelike stems enveloped completely by scarious sheaths and carrying 1 to 2, apical, erect, linear-ligulate, coriaceous, glabrous, sessile leaves that blooms in the winter on a terminal, short, 4 to 7 flowered inflorescence enveloped by scarious, inflated sheaths,
The rhizomatous plants with roots that arise from the base of the stem, carrying 1 to 2, ligulate leaves at the apex, the short, abbreviated inflorescence, the elliptic floral bracts with a white flower and the strongly nerved sepals and petals and the triangular-cordate and acute lip distinguish this species from others.
"Epidendrum octomerioides belongs to the GROUP Polychlamys which is characterized by the successive lateral growths, few leaves aggregate towards the apex of the stems, the distichous, apical inflorescence with prominent, conduplicate, acute floral bracts, and the SUBGROUP Octomerioides which has slightly thickened stems, rigid, fleshy thickened, linear-oblong to linear-lanceolate leaves, the apex unequally bilobed. The species is recognized by the slightly thickened stems, 1 to 2, apical, linear-oblong or linear-lanceolate, suberect, very fleshy-thickened leaves, and the white to rarely greenish white flowers, the sepals .3 to .4" [7.5 to 10 mm] long, and the triangular-cordiform lip with two very small calli. Epidendrum neoporpax (Rchb.f.) Ames, from Cuba and Hispaniola has smaller plants, with 2 to 4, short, narrow leaves .64 to 3.4 x .16 to .48" [1.6 to 8.5 x 0.4 to 1.2 cm] white to greenish yellow flowers with sepals .24 to .28" [6 to 7 mm} long, the lip ovate-cordate and the ovary inflated without forming a vesicle." Hagsater etal 2007
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI *Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 3: 248. 1907; The Genus Epidendrum Ames 1936; Ceiba Vol 5 No 1 L O Williams 1956; Icones Planetarum Tropicarm Plate 725 Hamer 1982 drawing fide; Selbyana Vol 10 Orchids of Central America Hamer 1988 drawing fide; Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama Dressler 1993; Manual de las Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003; Vanishing Beauty, Native Costa Rican Orchids Vol 1 Pupulin 2005 photo fide; Orquideas de la Serrania del Baudo Misas Urreta 2005 drawing/photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 967 Hagsater 2007 drawing fide; Orchids of Costa Rica Vol 2 Morales 2009 photo fide; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 photo hmm; Orchid Genera and Species in Guatemala Archila, Szlachchetko, Chiron, Lipinska, Mystkowska and Bertolini 2018; Icones Orchidacearum 17(1) Plate 1744 Hagsater & Jimenez 2019 see recognition section
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