Epidendrum prietoi Hágsater & Dodson 2004 GROUP Arbusculum SUBGROUP Incomptum

TYPE Drawing by © R Jimenez M and The AMO Herbaria Website

Common Name Father Prieto’s Epidendrum [Ecuadorian Collector 1900’s]

Flower Size .8” [2 cm]

Found in Ecuador in the Valley of the Rio Canar at elevations around 1000 meters as a medium sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte with erect, arising from the upper 2/3’s of the stem, cane-like, terete stems carrying 3, aggregate towards the apex of the stem, elliptic, acute leaves that blooms in the winter on a terminal, erect, occurring only once, racemose, peduncle two winged, nutant, successively several, 5 to 12 flowered inflorescence with as long as to shorter than the ovary, triangular, acuminate floral bracts and carrying dirty yellow flowers with pale purplish veins.

"Epidendrum prietoi belongs to the GROUP Arbusculum SUBGROUP Incomptum which is characterized by the sympodial habit, rarely branching, with the new stem produced from below the apex of the previous stem, with few or no roots at the base of each stem, the yellow-green to black flowers with a fleshy lip produced from a racemose, arching inflorecence. The new species is recognized by the two-winged peduncle, dirty yellow flowers with purplish veins, the 3-lobed lip with the lateral lobes dolabriform, the basal margin concave, and the distal margin convex, single-veined petals and long, narrow calli, the disc with 3 low, narrow veins, the lateral ones trifid, and the ovary somewhat inflated ventrally towards the apical half. Epidendrum ochrochlorum is much smaller overall, the sepals .36" [9 mm] long, and from Brazil. Epidendrum homoion Hágsater & Dodson, from the Amazon side of the Andes in Ecuador has wider floral segments, the lip .56 to .64" x 1.04 to 1.12" [14 to 6 x 26 to 28 mm], 3-veined petals, and a straight column. Epidendrum yambalense Hágsater & Dodson , has narrower and more acute segments, with the midlobe of the lip apiculate. Epidendrum oenochromum Hágsater & Dodson has fleshy, thickened, burgundy-red , colored floral segments, suborbicular lateral lohes of the lip, and oblong, 3 to 4 veined petals. Epidendrum tamaense Foldats is similarly colored buff to olive-green with purple veining on the lip, but the flowers are larger, sepals .6 to .84" [15 to 21] mm long." Hagsater etal 2004

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 768 Hagsater and Sanchez 2004 see recognition section; * Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 779 Hagsater & Dodson 2004 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1541 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 see recognition; section; Icones Orchidacearum 16[2] Plate 1681 Hagsater & Sanchez 2018 see recognition section;

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