Epidendrum serrulatum Sw. 1788>
Photo by © Julio Larramendi
Drawing by © Jimenez and The AMO Herbaria Website
Common Name The Lightly Toothed Epidendrum [refers to the dentate margins of the leaves]
Flower Size .6" [1.5 cm] wide
Found in eastern Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic in wet broadleaved, pine forest and cloud forests at elevations of 1000 to 2300 meters as a mini-miniature to miniature sized, cool to cold growing, hanging, caespitose epiphyte with short, basally terete, somewhat compresssed above, sulcate, enveloped by 1 to 3 tubulbar, scarious-fibrous sheaths and a foliaceous blade, deciduous, only the apical, 1 to 2 persistent, sessile, conduplicate, narrowly linear-elliptic, acute to subobtuse, mucronate, coriaceous, dorsally keeled margin serrulate leaves that blooms at most any time of year on a terminal, without a spathe, racemose to paniculate, about as long as the leaves, peduncle terete, vary short, naked, 1.6" [4 cm] long, successively few, 5 to 12 flowered inflorescence with shorter than the ovary, ovate-triangular, short acuminate, amplexicaul, scarious floral bracts and carrying bell shaped, greenish yellow to red brown flowers.
" It is not clear to what group Epidendrum serrlllatum SW. belongs, and we lack the corresponding DNA molecular data that would permit us to place the species, which is distinguished by the small compact plant with 1 to 2, linear-elliptic, serrulate leaves, racemose to paniculate inflorescence scarcely longer than the leaves, small, successive, campanulate, yellow-greenish to brick-red brown flowers, 3-lobed, flabellate lip, united to the column only at the base. Among the other small Antillean species, Epidendrum hioramii Acuña & Alain has small plants with pseudobulbs, 4" [10 cm] tall, with 2 to 4, ovate leaves, margin entire, .28 to .48" [7 to 12 mm] wide, inflorescence with 1 to 8, small flowers, with a widely cordiform, abruptly acuminate lip." Hagsater etal 2007
Synonyms Cymbidium serrulatum (Sw.) Sw. 1799; Encyclia serrulata (Sw.) H.Dietr. 1984; Prosthechea serrulata (Sw.) W.E.Higgins 1997 publ. 1998
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; The Orchids of Jamaica Fawcett & Rendle 1910; Orchidacea Antillanae Nir 2000; Orchids of Cuba Llamacho & Laramendi 2005 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 985 Hagsater 2007 drawing fide; Orquideas de la Republica Dominicana Y Haiti Fernandez 2007 photo good; Orchid Flora of the Greater Antilles Ackerman 2014;
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