Epidendrum vareschii Foldats 1969 GROUP Megalospathum SUBGROUP Inornatum

TYPE Drawing by © Foldats

Common Name Vareschi's Epidendrum [Austrian Collector of the Type specimen 1900's]

Flower Size

Found in northwestern Venezuela and Colombia at elevations around 2700 meters as a small sized, cold growing epiphyte with pendulous, cane-like, laterally compressed stems carrying narrowly lanceolate, acute, articulate, distichous leaves that blooms on a terminal, peduncle with 2, spathe-like, conduplicate, ovate, acuminate, apically open bracts, racemose, aub-laxly simultaneously several flowered inflorescence with lanceolate to triangular-lanceolate, acute floral bracts and carrying small, fleshy flowers.

"Epidendrum vareschii Foldats, belongs to GROUP Megalospathum characterized by the caespitose but branching habit, many-leaved stem, fleshy, oblique leaves, a short, few flowered, raceme subtended by large semi-ovate spathaceous bracts, resupinate flowers, the column more or less united to the lip, and the SUBGROUP Inornatum , which has long, 3 to 8, narrow leaves, 8:1 to 20:1, and a simple, lip. The species, from western Venezuela, is recognized by the longer inflorescence, 3.4" [8.5 cm] long with 2 prominent spathaceous bracts on the peduncle, the ovary inflated without longitudinal keels, and the lip narrowly ovate, with 2 short, laminar calli. Epidendrum schmidtchenii has small plants with linear to linear-lanceolate leaves, inflorescence racemose about .14" [3.5 mm] long, with a widely ovate bract covering half the peduncle; the ovary inflated with longitudinal, erose [two-winged], keels; the lip oblong-elliptic, with a single, bilobed-callus. Epidendrum calyptratoides Hágsater & Dodson has a semi-lanceolate spathaceous bract covering the whole of the peduncle, and elliptic, acute, bicallose lip, the margin of the clinandrium-hood erose." Adapted from E schmidtchenii Icones 12 Plate 1290 Hagsater etal 2009

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Flora de Venezuela Volumen XV tercera parte Foldats 1970 drawing fide; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 12 Plate 1290 Hagsater & Sanchez 2009 see recognition section

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