Epidendrum polyanthum Lindl. 1831 GROUP Anceps SUBGROUP Polyanthum

Photo by © Lourens Grobler

Drawing

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

MOSTLY

Common Name The Many Flowered Epidendrum

Flower Size to about 3/4" [to 1.9 cm]

Found in Chiapas state of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela and Brazil in wet premontane forests at elevations of 914 to 2000 meters, as an exteremly variable, medium to large sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte and occasional terrestrial with an erect, terete, cane-like stem enveloped basally by a few scarious, close sheaths and carrying basally clasping, coriaceous, linear-lanceolate, acute dark green leaves that blooms on a terminal, erect, to 18" [45 cm] long, sheathed, 5 to 20 flowered inflorescence with the flowers opening in succession occuring mostly in the summer but is possible several times a year.

"Epidendrum polyanthum is part of GROUP Anceps which is recognized by the simple stems, generally elongate, compound racemose inflorescence producing new successive racemes with time, fleshy flowers, filiform to narrowly spatulate petals, and the SUBGROUP Polyanthum which has elongate, not subcorymbose racemes. The species is recognized by the terete stems, slightly compressed above, elongate inflorescence, racemose when first flowering, the becoming pluri-racemose, verrucose ovary, sepals .32 to .41" [8 to 10.3 mm] long, slightly verrucose, sepals and petals yellow-orange to orange-ochre, the lip white to pale orange, column white, fragrance herbaceous, disagreeable; the lateral lobes of the lip are semiovate, the margin slit, forming two lobes, the basal one semiobricular, the apical one semiorbicular to triangular, rounded; midlobe oblong-quadrate, the apex bilobed to slit. Epidendrum verrucipes Schltr., though similar, is distinguished by the evident longitudinal veins on the dry leaves, the yellow-orange to greenish yellow flowers, a very disagreeable fragrance, the ovary generally very verrucose-papillose, the sepals dorsally scarcely to densely verrucose-papillose, and the column white to pale orange. Epiedendrum martinezii L. Sánchez & Carnevali has .4 to .8" [1 to 2 cm] wide leaves distributed along the apical half of the stem, sepals and petals .28 to .32" [7 to 8 mm] long, yellow-orange, generally tinged with brown, the basal half of the column green, the apical half of the column and the lip white. Epiedendrum tuxtlense Hágsater, Garda-Cruz & L. Sánchez, endemic from southern Veracruz and northern Oaxaca, has laterally compressed, ancipitose stems, compact racemes, sepals and petals .2 to .28" [5 to 7.5 mm] long, the lateral lobes of the lip suborbicular, entire, and the midlobe subquadrate, slightly wider towards the apex. Epidendrum stallforthianum Kraenzl., from Veracruz, has orange-brown flowers, the lip white and cream colored, the fragrance disagreeable." Hagsater etal 2008

Synonyms Epidendrum bisetum Lindl. 1841; Epidendrum colorans Klotzsch 1851; Epidendrum funiferum C. Morren 1848; Epidendrum hondurense Ames 1933; Epidendrum lansbergii Regel 1855; Epidendrum polystachyum Pav. ex Lindl. 1831; Epidendrum quinquelobum Schltr. 1923;

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; The Orchids of Mexico and Guatemala Bateman 1843 drawing ok; Bonplandia Rchb.f 1856; Refugium Botanicum Reichenbach 1872 drawing fide; Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 6: 70 Schlechter 1919 as E lansbergii; Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 6: 71 Schlechter 1919; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 19: 124. Costa Rica Schlechter 1923; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 19: 125. Costa Rica Schlechter 1923 as E quinquelobum; The Genus Epidendrum Ames 1936 as E hondurense; The Genus Epidendrum Ames 1936; The Orchids of Panama L.O. Williams & P Allen 1946; Ceiba Vol 5 No 1 L O Williams 1956; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; Flora de Venezuela Foldats Volumen XV Part 3 1970 drawing fide; Las Orquedias De El Salvador Vol 1 Hamer 1974 drawing/photo fide; Orchidaceae Brasilense Band 1 Pabst & Dungs 1975 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 49 No 5 1979; Orquídea (Mexico City), n.s., 7[3]: 1979; Las Orquedias de El Salvador Vol 3 Hamer 1981 drawing fide; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum plate 729 Dodson 1982 drawing fide; Selbyana Vol 10 Orchids of Central America Hamer 1988 drawing fide; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum plate 1321 Atwood 1989; Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama Dressler 1993; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 390 Hagsater & Soto 1999 see recognition section; Guatemala Y Sus Orquideas Behar & Tinschert 1998 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum Perviarum Plate 649 Bennett & Christenson 2001 see observations; Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 437 Hagsater 2001 see recognition section; Orchid Digest Vol 66 #2 2002 drawing fide; Orchids of Mexico Hagsater, Soto, Salazar, Jimenez, Lopez and Dressler 2005; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 963 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 11 Plate 1136 Hagsater & Sanchez 2008 as E hondurense drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 11 Plate 1136 Hagsater & Sanchez 2008 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 11 Plate 1146 Hagsater 2008 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 11 Plate 1156 Hagsater 2008 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 11 Plate 1162 Hagsater & Sanchez 2008 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 11 Plate 1181 Hagsater & Sanchez 2008 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 11 Plate 1196 Hagsater & Sanchez 2008 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1316 Hagsater & Santiago 2010 See recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1321 Hagsater 2010 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1355 Hagsater 2010 see recognition ; Orchid Genera and Species in Guatemala Archila, Szlachchetko, Chiron, Lipinska, Mystkowska and Bertolini 2018

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------