Epidendrum silvae Hágsater & V.P.Castro 1999 GROUP Pseudepidendrum SUBGROUP Paniculatum
Photo by © Dalton Holland Baptista © and Orchidstudium
TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
Common Name Silva's Epidendrum [Brazilian Orchid Collector current]
Flower Size 1.2" [3 cm]
Found in Bahia state of Brazil at elevations of sealevel to 100 meters as a large to giant sized, hot growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, terete stems carrying elliptic, acute to obtuse, deep green, sometimes marked with purple, subcoriaceous leaves that blooms in the winter on a terminal, erect, paniculate, arising on a mature stem, occuring only once, short, 20 to 40 flowered inflorescence with 1 to 2 large bracts on the peduncle and much shorter than the ovary floral bracts and carrying simultaneously opening, resupinate, nonfragrant flowers.
"The flowers of E. silvae look like most members of GROUP Pseudepidendrum SUBGROUP Paniculatum , the plants are erect, and in cultivation much taller than other species, with wider leaves, often over 1.6" [4 cm], the inflorescence is paniculate, flowers simultaneous, green with a solid bright purple blotch on the disk, the distal margin of the lateral lobes of the lip being straight. E. successivum has similar coloring, though with successive flowers on an elongate raceme, and this species nearly always produces a new plantlet from the inflorescence, the distal margin of the lateral lobes of the lip being rounded. This species is found at some 200 to 300 meters altitude and 250 km from the sea. Epidendrum densiflorum Hook. has similar but smaller flowers, sepals .4 to .48" [10 to 12 mm] long, the color is dirty green with the mark pale purple, petals 3-veined. Epidendrum dipus Lindl. has a much fleshier vegetative habit, a white lip, with the lobes of the midlobe wide at the base, triangular, and wider petals .12 to .18" [3-4.5 mm] wide." Hagsater etal 1993
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 382 Hagsater, Sanchez & Garcia-Cruz 1999 drawing fide
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