Epidendrum stevensonii Hágsater & Dodson 2001 GROUP Geminiflorum

TYPE Drawing by © Lopez and The AMO Herbaria Website

THROUGH EARLY

Common Name Stevenson's Epidendrum [American Past President of the American Orchid Society 1900's]

Flower Size 1.4" [3.5 cm]

Found in Ecuador on the western slopes of the Andes at elevations of 1360 to 2200 meters as a small to medium sized, cool to cold, scandent growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, arising from the middle of the previous stem, terete, somewhat flexuous stems carrying 4 to 8, all along the upper half of the stem, alternate, unequal, the middle ones largest, articulate, elliptic, unequally bilobed, sub-coriaceous, smooth, dark green leaves that blooms in the spring through early fall on a terminal, arising through a conduplicate, oblong to obovate, rounded, tubular spathe, on a mature stem, occuring only once, peduncle terete, naked, totally covered by the spathe, .91 to 1.36" [2.8 to 3.4 cm] long, simultaneously 5 to 10 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acuminate floral bracts and carrying non-resupinate, white to clear green becoming yellowish orange with age, non-fragrant flowers.

"Epidendrum stevensonii belongs to GROUP Geminiflorum and is closely related to E. geminiflorum Kunth; but E stevensonii can be recognized by the spade-like shape of the lip, the bottom half basically square and the apical half a right-angled triangle, the flowers are relatively numerous, 5 to 10 flowered. Epidendrum geminiflorum has a basically triangular lip, with small, semiorbicular lateral lobes at the base, the inflorescence being usually 2 to 3[4] flowered. Epidendrum philocremnum Hágsater & Dodson has .52" [13 mm] long sepals, linear-elliptic petals and the lip three-lobed, the lateral lobes suborbicular; it is found on the eastern side of the Andes, on cliffs and steep roadsides. Epidendrum rotundifolium Hágsater & Dodson has an excavated lip, and is found farther south, on both sides of the Ecuadorian-Peruvian border." Hagsater etal 2001

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Orchidacearum 4 Plate 470 Hagsater 2001 see recognition section; * Icones Orchidaeacrum 4 Plate 488 Hagsater & Dodson 2001 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 17(1) Plate 1716 Hagsater & Jimenez 2019 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 17(1) Plate 1723 Hagsater & Jimenez 2019 see recognition section

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