Epidendrum ventricosum Lindl.1841 GROUP Ventricosum
Drawings by © Jimenez and The AMO Herbaria Website
Common Name The Thick Belly Epidendrum
Flower Size .6” [1.5 cm]
Found northern Peru on the northern end of the Cordillera Oriental at elevations of 1900 to 3000 meters as a miniature to small sized, cold growing sympodial, subcaespitose epiphyte with simple, cane-like, laterally compressed, ancipitous, newly arising from the basal fourth of the previous stem carrying 3 to 5, all along the apical 2/3rds of the stem, unequal, fleshy, narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, obtuse, unequally bilobed, margin crenulate leaves that blooms in the fall on a terminal, arising through a tubular, ancipitous, linear-oblong, rounded spathe enveloping the peduncle, racemose, simultaneously 6 to 17 flowered inflorescence with very short, triangular, acuminate floral bracts and carrying resupinate, non-fragrant, transluscent flowers with the calli whitish.
"Epidendrum ventricosum belongs to the GROUP Ventricosum, characterized by the sympodial habit, few, narrow leaves, racemose inflorescence subtended by 1 to 2 narrow, spathaceous bracts, and the delicate, purple flowers with an inflated nectary on the underside of the column, the lip laminar and more or less cordate. The species is recognized by the subcaespitose habit, medium sized plants with ancipitose stems, narrow spathe and racemose inflorescence with rich pink colored, translucent flowers; the leaves are long and narrow 1.6 to 4.8" x .13 to .32" [4 to 12 x 0.3 to 0.8 cm], the lip is as wide as it is long, and the calli are small, about 1/4 the length of the lip, and is found north of Chachapoyas, in the hills northwest of lake Pomacocha. Epidendrum pachygastrium Kraenzlin is very similar and is distinguished by the shorter, wider lanceolate leaves 1.2 to 3.2" x .24 to .4" [3 to 8 x 0.6 to 1.0 cm], and the lip slightly wider than long and with the two large, subglobose calli nearly half as long as the lip; it is found around Chachapoyas and south. Epidendrum leimebambense Hágsater, which also grows south of Chachapoyas and up to Loja in Ecuador, is also similar, but leaves are still wider, up to .68" [1.7 cm] wide, flowers larger, sepals .56 to .64" [14 to 16 mm] long, pale green marked with purple, and lip cordiform, .32 x .44" [8 x 11 mm]." Hagsater 2008
Synonyms Epidendrum pachygastrium Kraenzl. 1905
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Orchids of Peru Vol 2 Schweinfurth 1959; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 970 Hagsater 2007 as E pachygastrium drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 11 Plate 1194 Hagsater 2008 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 12 Plate 1238 Hagsater 2009 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1302 Hagsater 2010 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 18(2) Plate 1866 Hagsater & Jimenez 2021 see recognition section
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