Epidendrum paraguastigma Hágsater & García-Cruz 1999 GROUP Ramosum SUBGROUP Platystigma

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

EARLIER

Common Name The Mt Paragua Epidendrum [refers to an eastern Costa Rican Mountain]

Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]

Found in Costa Rica in cloud forests and pastures at elevations of 1200 to 2000 meters as a giant sized, cool to cold growing epiphtye with a branching, cane-like, terete stem carrying 6 to 12, all along the main stem, branches smaller, coriaceous, narrowly elliptic, bilobed leaves that blooms in the earlier fall on a terminal, without a spathe, arising from the branches, occuring only once, racemose, arcuate, 1.2 to 2.4" [3 to 6 cm] long, distichous, short, provided with 1, conduplicate, widely ovate, obtuse bract, laterally compressed, flexuous inflorescence with conduplicate, much longer than the ovary, lanceolate, acuminate floral bracts and carrying 7 to 9, simultaneously opening, resupinate, nocturnally fragrant, white flowers.

Characterized by the narrowly elliptic leaves on a 8.4 to 9.8" [21 to 24.5 cm] long principal stem, 3.2 to 4.8" [8 to 12 cm] long secondary stem and 1 to 2.8" [2.5 to 7 cm] long tertiary branches, a racemose inflorescence with non-imbricate floral bracts and 7 to 9 white flowers with acute, mucronate, .12 to .144" [3 to 3.6 mm] long sepals, an entire, heart-shaped lip with a truncate base that does not envelop the column, a laminar, tridentate callus and a straight column.

"Epidendrum paraguastigma Hágsater & García-Cruz 1999 belongs to the GROUP Ramosum SUBGROUP Platystigma Characterized by the monopodial, erect plants with a clear primary stem, branching occurs from the axil of the leaves, producing short, few, small leaved branches, and these produce successive, short branches from a subapical internode, thus an old plant has numerous branches, these progressively made of fewer elements, and often lacking the juvenile, long leaves, at this stage the plant attains full flowering and often dies. The species is recognized by the large plants with narrowly elliptic leaves, secondary and tertiary branches with leaves 1.2 to 4.8" x .28 to .8" [3 to 12 x 0.7 to 2 cm], the floral bracts .4 to .76" [1 to 1.9 cm] long, white flowers an ovate, acute lip, the base truncate. Epidendrum gibbosum has large plants with narrowly elliptic leaves, secondary and tertiary branches with leaves 1.2 to 4.8" x .28 to .8" [3 to 12 x 0.7 to 2 cm], the floral bracts .4 to .76" [1 to 1.9 cm] long, flowers greenish white, sometimes the lip tinged with red, ovary straight, lateral sepals strongly carinate; keel erose, lip subquadrate, base cordate. It is very similar to Epidendrum platystigma Rchb. f. but that species has longer leaves, white flowers, the lateral sepals slightly carinate and the lip subtriangular. also has white flowers, Epidendrum campbellstigma Hágsater & Carda-Cruz has apple green flowers, the lip white, an arcuate ovary, subreniform lip, with the base cordate, clinandrium as long as the column, entire. Epidendrum penneystigma Hágsater & Carda-Cruz has white flowers, and a semicircular-flabellate lip. Epidendrum jefestigma Hágsater & Carda-Cruz, has whitish green flowers, a white, suborbicular lip with the base truncate, and a callus bilobate." Adapted from Icones Plate 1127 Hagsater etal 2008

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 367 Hagsater 1999 drawing fide; Manual de las Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003; Icones Orchidacearum 11 Plate 1127 Hagsater 2008 see recognition section; Orchids of Costa Rica Vol 3 Morales 2009 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [2] Plate 1593 Hagsater & Sanchez 2016 see recognition section;

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