Epidendrum vigosi Hágsater & E.Santiago 2015 GROUP Pseudepidendrum SUBGROUP Turialvae
photo by Jimenez/TYPE Drawing by © Lopez and The AMO Herbaria Website
Common Name The ViGoSi Epidendrum [Colombian Orchid Enthusiasts Acronym of the first 2 letters of the type collectors Vieira, Gonzalez and Siegert current]
Flower Size 1.2" [3 cm]
Found in Antioquia department of Colombia on the Central Cordillera in foothills and wet interior valleys at elevations around 50 to 1100 meters as a small sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, erect, basally terete, laterally compressed above, thin, straight stems carrying about 7 to 12, erect-spreading, alternate, articulate, dorsally dark green, ventrally tinged purple, unequal in size, basally smaller, narrowly oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, margin entire leaves that blooms at most any time of the year on a terminal, without a spathe, pluri-racemose, peduncle 4.4 to 10.8" [11 to 27 cm] long, laterally compressed, erect, straight, provided with 5 to 9, unequal in size, progressively smaller, tubular, ancipitous, acute, basally partly imbricate bracts, rachis .4" [1 cm] long, terete, thin, simultaneously 2 to 5 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acute, amplexicaul floral bracts and carrying non-fragrant, apple green flowers with a solid dark purple blotch, and sometimes the apex of the column is tinged purple and all aggregate towards the apex.
"Epidendrum vigosi belongs to the GROUP Pseudepidendrum which is characterized by caespitose plants, cane-like stems, acute to acuminate leaves, usually apical inflorescence, the mostly filiform petals and the lip usually 3-lobed with 3 parallel fleshy keels, the apical lobe often bifurcate, the “bird-wing” type pollinia, at least the inner pair, and SUBGROUP Turialvae which has a racemose and few-flowered inflorescence on an elongate peduncle, usually producing new racemes over the years and thus pluri-racemose, the rachis very short, and thus compact flowered. The species is recognized by the apple-green flowers, with a deep purple blotch on the disc of the lip, the partly spreading tepals, the very small floral bracts, and the short, thickened veins radiating from the base of the 3 central ribs on the disc. Epidendrum rodrigoi Hágsater has olive-green flowers, with the lip pink to lilac, including the 3 ribs of the disc, which are deeper in color and sepals totally reflexed, nearly parallel to the ovary. Epidendrum esmeraldense Hágsater, H.Medina & E.Santiago, is similar to the latter, but the flowers are ochre-green, and the lip rich magenta, with the ribs of the disc white. Epidendrum turialvae Rchb.f. can be recognized by the narrow, long leaves 2.8 to 7.4" x .16 to 1" [7 to 18.5 x 0.4 to 2.5 cm] though the extremes overlap, flowers are greenish brown, with the lip a translucent white, sometimes with the disc of the lip rose colored, the sepals reflexed and the disc of the lip without thickened veins, only the 3 parallel ribs. Epidendrum tacarcunense Hágsater has pale green flowers and a white lip, the disc of the lip purple, and the calli are small and narrow, the sepals totally reflexed, parallel to the ovary, and the petals parallel to the column, it is apparently endemic to the Darién in Panama." Hagsater etal 2015
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 15[1] Plate 1567 Hagsater & Santiago 2015 drawing/photo fide; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 photo fide;
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