Epidendrum spasmosum Hágsater & Dodson 2004 GROUP Elleanthoides SUBGROUP Rhombochilum

TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez and The AMO Herbaria Website

Common Name The Cramped Epidendrum [refers to the cramped appearance of the flower]

Flower Size .2" [5 mm]

Found in Ecuador and northern Peru on the eastern slopes of the Andes in the basin of the Rio Numbala at elevations of 2000 to 2900 meters as a medium sized, cold growing terrestrial with cane-like, terete, thin, arising from the apical internode of the previous stem and carrying 3 to 7, all along the apical half of the stem or bunched towards the apex, sub-coriaceous, narrowly oblong-lanceolate, unequally bilobed, margin crenulate leaves that blooms in the summer and fall on a terminal, sessile, occuring only once, suberect, successively 1 to 2, 3 to 5 flowered inflorescence with shorter to as long as the ovary, deltoid, acute floral bracts and carrying non-resupinate, white flowers with the apex of the sepals pink to greenish purple.

"Epidendrum spasmosum belongs to the GROUP Elleanthoides SUBGROUP Rhombochilum which is characterized by the thin, branching habit, narrow, snort, subcoriaceous leaves with a crenulate margin and unequally bilobed apex, racemose, subdistichous, short, inflorescence, with successive flowers, the entire lip embracing the column. The species is recognized by the non-resupinate flowers, white with the apices of the sepals pink to the whole flower greenish purple, the flowers are tightly cramped, with the lip embracing the column to leave only a round aperture through which the column may be reached for pollination, with subquadrate, erose lateral robes of the lip and a small triangular apical lobes; the petals are linear to linear-oblanceolate, with the upper margin sinuous. Epidendrum golondrinense Hágsater & Dodson has a similar habit, but somewhat different, more numerous (up to 13), smaller flowers with the sepals .158" [3.8 mm] long, the lip 3-lobed, with the lateral lobes smaller than the midlobe. Epidendrum rhombochilum is recognized by the triangular lip, two, lenticular pollinia slit longitudinally down one side and lanceolate dorsal sepal. Epidendrum chrysanthum Hágsater & Dodson has small, branching, caespitose plants with small, freshy, bronzy yellow-green colored flowers produced simultaneously, the rhomboid lip enveloping the column, the sepals ,24 to .36" [6 to 8.5 mm] long; it also has 2 pollinia, an infrequent character in the genus. Epidendrum rhodanthum which is sympatric with E. chrysanthum, has successive pink flowers, the lip transversely elliptic, apiculate, the sepals .36" [8.5 mm] long, and 4 pollinia. It is superficially similar to E. guacamayense Hágsater & Dodson that has quite similar flowers, out distinctly different, long, grassy leaves and the branching inflorescence with a long, hair-thin peduncle to each branch." Hagsater etal 2004

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 753 Hagsater and Sanchez 2004 see recognition section; * Icones Orchidacearum 7 Plate 789 Hagsater & Sanchez 2004 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1365 Hagsater & Dodson 2010 See Recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1387 Hagsater & Santiago 2010 See recognition section;

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