Epidendrum rugosum Ames 1923 GROUP Ramosum SUBGROUP Rugosum
TYPE Drawing by R Jimenez and The AMO Herbaria Website
LATER EARLIER
Common Name The Rugose Epidendrum [refers to the foliar sheaths]
Flower Size .4" [1 cm]
Found in Costa Rica on the Atlantic Slope and on the Cordillera de Tileran, Central and Talamanca in cloud and rain forests at elevations of 950 to 2500 meters as a small to medium sized, warm to cold growing epiphyte with cane-like, branching, terete, flexuous, branches shorter than the main stem carrying numerous, all along the main stem and branches, generally deciduous on the older stems persistent on the branches, 7 to 11 on the lower branches, 3 to 5 on the upper and flowering branches, oblong-elliptic, unequally bilobed, coriaceous leaves that blooms in the later spring, summer through earlier fall on a terminal, erect, only on the branches, distichous, racemose, peduncle reduced, terete, with 1 to 2, triangular, acute bracts rachis zigzag, simultaneously 4 to 6 flowered inflorescence with shorter than the ovary, triangular, acute floral bracts and carrying distichous, lip always facing the rachis, whitish, greenish white to green flowers.
"Epidendrum rugosum Ames belongs to the GROUP Ramosum which is characterized by the monopodial, branching stems, the spike-like, distichous inflorescence, and the single callus, and the GROUP Ramosum SUBGROUP Rugosum which has a branching habit with few-flowered inflorescences from short, secondary stems, the leaf-sheaths rugose. The species can be recognized by its terete stems, rugose leaf-sheaths, zigzag rachis of the inflorescence, 4 to 6 whitish, greenish white to green flowers, sepals.2 to .28 " [5 to 7 mm] long, 3-veined petals, the triangular, acute lip, with the basal corners rouneded, very fleshy towards the apex and 5 evident veins on the disc of the lip. It is similar and sympatric with E atrorugosum Hágsater which has successive flowers, the sepals about .36 to .4" [9 to 10 mm] long, acute, sepals and petals 3-veined, free, straight, lip about twice as long as it is broad, column bent at the base forming a nearly 90° angle with the ovary; the plants and flowers dark purple throughout. Epidendrum suturatum Hágsater & Dressler, endemic to Panama, has lanceolate sepals adnate to the lip where it is joined to the column, and clearly divergent. Epidendrum curvisepalum Hágsater & Dressler, also endemic from Panama has falcate lateral sepals, the apical half strongly divergent, and the lip ovate with the margin strongly involute and the petals 5-veined . The citation from Panama by Dressler (1980) is based on either one of these species.
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; The Genus Epidendrum Ames 1936; Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama Dressler 1993; Manual de las Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003 drawing good; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 122 Hagsater & Sanchez 1993 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 125 Hagsater & Sanchez 1993 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 2 Plate 190 Hagsater & Dodson 1993 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 309 Hagsater 1999 see recogntion section; Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 331 Hagsater & Sanchez 1999 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 981 Hagsater & Sanchez 2007 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 11 Plate 1176 Hagsater 2008 see recognition section;
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