Epidendrum portokalium Hágsater & Dodson 2004 GROUP Secundum SUBGROUP Secundum
Photo by Eric Hagsater/TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
THROUGH MID 
Common Name The Orange Flowered Epidendrum
Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]
Found throughout north to south central Ecuador in undisturbed forests, disturbed habitats and citrus groves at elevations of 735 to 1600 meters as a giant sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte with simple, terete, cane-like stems carrying 10 to 14, alternate, all along the stem, coriaceous, thin, lanceolate, marginally entire, unequally bilobed apically, basally clasping leaves that blooms in the late spring through mid fall on a terminal, racemose, elongate, 20 to 98" [50 to 110 cm] long, terete, successsively 30 to 44 flowered inflorescence with 4 to 15, non-resupinate flowers open at any one time
"Similar red-flowered species to Epidendrum aromoense are: Epidendrum portokalium Hágsater & Dodson has red flowers that resembles E. aromoense, but it is found on the Amazon slopes of the Andes in central Ecuador, and differs from E. aromoense by the callus unequally 7-tuberculed (with four basal tubercles and three apical ones. Epidendrum tulcanense Hágsater & Dodson has also red flowers but it is distinguished by the large white massive callus, formed by nine unequal tubercles: four basal ones and the main structure formed by five sub-equal tubercles. Epidendrum laurelense Hágsater & Dodson, that differ from E. aromoense by the carmine-red flowers on a much more open raceme, with a massive white callus formed by a semicircular sulcate, marginally plurilobulate fleshy plate, found between Tulcán and Maldonado, on the border between Ecuador and Colombia, on roadsides and rocks in wet forest between at around 2000 to 2500 meters above sea level. Epidendrum coroicoënse Schltr. is another species similar to E. aromoense by the lacquer-red flowers; however, the former species is known from southern Peru and western Bolivia, along the upper Amazon slope of the Cordillera Oriental of the Andes, and differ from E. aromoense by the narrow leaves about 6 to 7 times longer than wide, the petals wider than the sepals, elliptic-sub-orbicular, the lip bearing lateral lobes overlapping with the mid-lobe when spread; and callus 5-tuberculate with two basal and three apical tubercles, and without keels. " Epidendrum aromoense (Orchidaceae, Laeliinae), a New Species from the Coastal Dry Forests in Western Ecuador (PDF Download Available). Available from: _Epidendrum_aromoense_Orchidaceae_Laeliinae_a_New_Species_from_the_Coastal_Dry_Forests_in_Western_Ecuador [accessed Nov 01 2017]
"Epidendrum portokalium belongs to the GROUP Secundum SUBGROUP Secundum, recognized by the elongate inflorescence with bright colored, non-resupinate flowers with a complicated callus. This species is epiphytic and has orange-red colored flowers with a yellow canus, the lateral lobes of the column are dentate, petals wider than the sepals, and the callus is unequally 7-tuberculed. Epidendrum elongatum Jacq., a terrestrial species described from around Caracas and which also has orange flowers, has a much smaller callus. Epidendrum cochlidium Lindl. described from a collection by Mathews from Peru is said to have a large, complex callus, with the apex of the callus reaching the apical sinus of the lip; the flower color is red with a white callus Epidendrum caquetanum Schltr. is also epiphytic, but has orange-red flowers with a 3-lobed, white, callus, and the petals are narrower than the sepals. Epidendrum macrocarpum Rich. which is larger overall, usually associated with ants, has a bicallose lip and much larger flowers with the sepals .8 to 1.4" [20 to 35 mm] long in shades of orange and yellow" Hagsater etal 2004
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 778 Hagsater & Sanchez 2004 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1516 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 see recognition section; Epidendrum aromoense (Orchidaceae, Laeliinae), a New Species from the Coastal Dry Forests in Western Ecuador (PDF Download Available). Available from: _Epidendrum_aromoense_Orchidaceae_Laeliinae_a_New_Species_from_the_Coastal_Dry_Forests_in_Western_Ecuador [accessed Nov 01 2017]; Icones Orchidacearum 16[1] Plate 1605 Hagsater & Santiago 2018 See recognition section;
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