Epidendrum renilabium Schltr. 1921 GROUP Andean SUBGROUP Renilabium type for the subgroup
Photo by © Alexander Reynolds and UC Davis Website.
Photo by © Eric Hunt
Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
Common Name The Kidney-Shaped Lip Epidendrum
Flower Size 1.15" [2.8 cm]
Found in Ecuador and Peru in wet upper montane forests on the western Pacific slopes at elevations of 1500 to 3100 meters as a giant sized, cool to cold growing terrestrial with a thick, often branching stem enveloped completely by loose sheaths and carrying many, oblong to elliptic-oblong, rounded and often retuse apically, sessile at the clasping base leves that blooms in the summer through fall on a terminal, short to 4" [4 to 10 cm] long, densely many flowered, nodding inflorescence carrying successive, rather fleshy flowers with the apical ones opening first.
Similar to E sagasteguii but it differs in the flowers opening from the base towards the apex, E renilabium opens from the apex first and then works down towards the base.
"Epidendrum renilabium is the type of GROUP Andean SUBGROUP Renilabium characterized by the tall plants, monopodial habit, generally large, bilobed leaves, racemose inflorescence, entire or 3-lobed lip with a channel at the base of the disc between the calli. The species is recognized by the tall plants, to 80" [2 meters], with oblong to oblong-lanceolate leaves 2.8 to 6.4" [7 to 16 cm] long, the arched inflorescence with very fleshy, yellowish green flowers that open in succession from the apex towards the base of the inflorescence, sepals .52 to .56" [13 to 14 mm] long, petals obovate-spatulate, apically rounded, and the bicallose lip with a pair of very fleshy, long calli that nearly reach the apical sinus of the lip. Epidendrum renilabioides Hágsater & Dodson, which grows up to the northern border of Ecuador, has externally purplish brown flowers, petals and lip greenish, the calli and the column white, petals are elliptic-spatulate, the apex obtuse, and the lip is “Y” shaped, with the lip apiculate, not emarginate. Epidendrum reniconfusum Hágsater, E.Santiago & Dodson, has somewhat larger, concolor green flowers, sepals .56 to .76" [14 to 19 mm] long, sub-acute petals, and two laminar very short calli, with a intermediate elongate keel; the apex of the anther is truncate, not dentate. Epidendrum sagasteguii Hágsater & E. Santiago has flowers that open from the base towards the apex of the inflorescence, sepals .44 to .48" [11 to 12 mm] long, widely obovate, obtuse petals with the margin dentate, and the lip is bicallose, the calli laminar and short." Hagsater etal 2009
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 8: 68 Schlechter 1921 ; Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. Figuren-Atlas 57: 361 Schlechter 1929 drawing fide; Orchids of Peru First Supplement, Fieldiana Vol 33 Schweinfurth 1970 not = E sagasteguii; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 484 Dodson 1989 drawing ok; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 107 Hagsater 1993 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 454 Hagsater 2001 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 469 Hagsater 2001 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 479 Hagsater 2001 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 710 Hagsater and Sanchez 2004 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 767 Hagsater and Sanchez 2004 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 787 Hagsater and Sanchez 2004 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 12 Plate 1282 Hagsater 2009 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum Part 12 Plate 1283 Hagsater 2009 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 14 Plate 1482 Hagsater & Sanchez 2013 see recognition section; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017; Icones Orchidacearum 18(2) Plate 1852 Hagsater & Jimenez 2021 see recognition section
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