Epidendrum puyoense Hágsater & Dodson 2001 GROUP Alberti SUBGROUP Physinga

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

LATE MID

Common Name The Puyo Epidendrum [refers to a town in Ecuador where the species was discovered]

Flower Size .6” [1.5 cm]

Found in central Ecuador on the Amazon slope of the Andes at elevations around 1000 to 1100 meters as a medium to large sized, cool growing caespitose epiphtye with simple, cane-like, ancipitous, somewhat flexuous stems carrying 7, all along the stem, unequal, narrowly elliptic, acuminate, margin entire leaves that blooms in the late spring, summer and through mid fall on a terminal and lateral, without a spathe, pluri-racemose, peduncle ancipitous, relatively long, the apical raceme erect, each raceme with a conduplicate bract similar to the floral bracts but larger, successively single, 8 flowered inflorescence with as long as the ovary, elliptic, rounded, conduplicate floral bracts and carrying green flowers.

"Epidendrum puyoense belongs to the GROUP Alberti SUBGROUP Physinga, recognized by the caespitose habit, apical and lateral inflorescences, successive flowers with the ovary covered by large, conduplicate bracts, peduncle frequently ancipitose. The species is distinguished by the ancipitose stems, elongate inflorescence, sepals partly spreading, .32 to .4" [8 to 10 mm] long, the lip suborbicular, the margin erose-dentate and the clinandrium prominent, much surpassing the body of the column, funnel-shaped and deeply fimbriate. Epidendrum dalessandroi Hágsater & Dodson has much larger plants and flowers, the sepals .8 to .88" [20 to 22 mm] long. Epidendrum notabile Schltr. also has a dentate margin of lip and petals, but short, subsessile inflorescences and a short clinandrium. Epidendrum gentryi Dodson has somewhat swollen, terete stems, only apical inflorescence, larger flowers, sepals .48 to .52" [12 to 13 mm] long, clinandrium prominent, but narrow, tubular, entire, and the lip suborbicular with the margin entire. Epidendrum dactyloclinium Hágsater & Dodson has larger flowers, a prominent three-lobed clinandrium with the lateral lobes finger-like, the dorsal lobe deeply dentate, the lip triangular with the corners rounded, sepals spreading, and the petals linear-oblanceolate. Epidendrum nematopetalum Hágsater & Dodson has filiform petals, a cordiform lip and a prominent entire clinandrium somewhat arched with the apical margin minutely dentate." Hagsater etal 2001

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 478 Hagsater & Dodson 2001 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 11 Plate 1192 Hagsater 2008 see recognition section;

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