Epidendrum thurstoniorum Hágsater 1999 GROUP Difforme
Photos by © SITF and the AOS Website
TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
Common Name The Thurstons' Epidendrum [American Couple, Orchid Enthuisiasts and Collectors of species]
Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]
Found in Costa Rica in humid montane and cloud forests at elevations of 1400 to 2500 meters as a small sized, cool to cold growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, laterally compressed, slightly flexuous stems and carrying 4 to 8, all along the stem, elliptic, irregularly bilobed apically leaves that blooms at most any time of the year on a terminal, sub-sessile, corymbose, .6 to 2" [4 to 5 cm] long, simultaneously 3 to 4 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acute floral bracts and carrying resupinate, green flowers.
Epidendrum thurstoniorum is part of GROUP Difforme characterized by the caespitose, sympodial plants, fleshy, pale green to glaucous leaves, apical inflorescence, sessile, rarely with a short peduncle, one-flowered to many-flowered, and then corymbose, without spathaceous bracts, fleshy, green to yellowish-green rarely white flowers. The species is recognized by the laterally compressed stems carrying 4 to 8, elliptic leaves that are less than 1.6" [4 cm] long, and flowers with a column that is not basally inflated and a prominently fimbriate clinadrium. Its similar to Epidendrum lagenocolumna which has leaves longer than 1.6" [4 cm], column inflated at the base and non-fimbriate c1inandrium. Epidendrum firmum Rchb. f., has smaller plants and flowers and leaves narrowly lanceolate to narrowly ovate-elliptic, .24 to 48" [0.6 to 1.2 cm wide." Hagsater etal 1999
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 3 Plate 386 Hagsater & Sanchez 1999 drawing fide; Manual de las Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003; Orchids of Costa Rica Vol 3 Morales 2009 photo fide;
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
