Epidendrum pucunoense Hágsater & Dodson 2001 GROUP Alpicolum

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

LATE EARLY

Common Name The Rio Pucano Epidendrum

Flower Size .32” [8 mm]

Found in Ecuador in pluvial, premontane forests at elevations around 1100 meters as a small to medium sized, cool growing, caespitose epiphyte with cane-like, slightly flexuous, ancipitous stems carrying 3 to 6, all along the stem, narrowly elliptic, acute, grass-like, dorsal keel, unequal progressively larger leaves that blooms in the late fall and early winter on a terminal, 1 to 2, nearly parallel sided, acute spathe enveloping the peduncle, on a mature stem, racemose, peduncle 1.4 to 2” [3.5 to 5 cm] long, rachis 2 to 2.4” [5 to 6 cm] long, laxly, simultaneously 12 to 20 flowered inflorescence with as long as to a little longer than the ovary, thin, linear-triangular, acuminate floral bracts and carrying small, non fragrant, creamy yellow to white flowers with the lip always facing the rachis.

"Epidendrum pucunoense belongs to the GROUP Alpicolum characterized by the simple, cane-like stems, long, narrow 1 to 3 spathaceous bracts, fox-tail-like inflorescence and numerous flowers with fleshy lip. The species is recognized by the small flowers, the sepals prominently midveined when dry, the large orbicular lateral lobes of the lip, larger in surface than the midlobe, and the emarginate, entire, prominent clinandrium, the leaves are narrowly elliptic and acute. It is close to Epidendrum zosterifolium which has sepals .2 to .28" [5 to 7 mm] long, greenish white f1owers, with the middle near the apex of sepals and lip deep green, lateral lobes of the lip small and erose, the prominent funnel-shaped, bilobed, erose clinandrium, a strong, daytime, spicy fragrance, leaves oblong, bilobed." Hagsater 2001

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 406 Hagsater 2001 see recognition section; * Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 476 Hagsater & Dodson 2001 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 11 Plate 1199 Hagsater 2008 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 18(2) Plate 1885 Hagsater & Jimenez 2021 see recognition section

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