Epidendrum sigmodiothoneum Hágsater & E.Santiago GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Diothonea

TYPE Drawing by © Lopez and The AMO Herbaria Website

Common Name The S-Shaped Column Diothonea Group Epidendrum [refers to the strongly geniculate column which gives this Diothonea Group orchid its name]

Flower Size .6" [1.5 cm] wide

Found in northern Peru on the Cordillera Occidental in humid forests at elevations around 2500 meters as a medium sized, cold growing epiphyte with simple, new stems arise from the apical node of the previus stem, erect, cane-like, terete, thin straight stems carrying 8 to 9, all along the upper 2/3's of the stem, alternate, articulate, sub-erect, linear-lanceolate, rounded, slightly bilobed, margin entire leaves that blooms in the summer on a terminal, sub-erect, short, occuring only once, peduncle short, terete, thin, straight basally provided with a linear-lanceolate, acuminate bract, rachis terete, thin, simultaneously 20 flowered inflorescence with more than half sa long as the ovary, linear-lanceolate, acuminate floral bracts and carrying resupinate, yellow flowers.

"Epidendrum sigmodiothoneum belongs to the GROUP Diothonea SUBGROUP Diothonea which is characterized by the branching plants, linear-lanceolate to oblong leaves, the apex bilobed, racemose, arching-nutant inflorescence, membranaceous, rarely fleshy flowers , the entire to 3-lobed ecallose lip with the margin erose and with or without 1 to 10 . thin, smooth to erose keels the column completely free to obliquely united to the lip, the anther reniform. The species is recognized by the small, resupinate, sigmoid (when seen laterally), yellow flowers, the sepals .22 to .264" [5.5-6.6 mm] long, the column geniculate and perpendicular to the ovary and lip. Epidendrum jativae has flowers of approximately the same size with sepals .24" [6 mm] long, but these are non-resupinate, greenish tinged with reddish or purple-brown, a straight column and the flower is not sigmoid when seen from the side. Epidendrum alfonsopozoi Hágsater & Dodson has orange flowers tinged with reddish or purple-brown, sepals .16" [4 mm] long and a short straight column .08" [2 mm] long, the lip with 3 prominent thickened keels. Epidendrum amaruense Hágsater, Collantes & E.Santiago has yellow to ochre-green, non-resupinate flowers, the margln of the sepals tinged with brownlsh-red, dorsally copper-colored, ovate petals .16" [4 mm] wide, and a reniform, bilobed lip with 5 keels." Hagsaer etal 2007

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 9 plate 987 Hagsater 2007 Drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 18(1) plate 1808 2020 see recognition section

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