Epidendrum villotae Hágsater & Dodson 1999 GROUP Spathiger SUBGROUP Coriifolium
Photo by Roberta Fox
TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
MOSTLY
Common Name Villota's Epidendrum [Nelly Villota Colombian Orchid Enthusiast current]
Flower Size 1.2" [3 cm]
Found in Colombia and Ecuador in mangroves and high rainforests at elevations of sealevel to 260 meters as a medium sized, hot growing epiphyte with simple, laterally compressed, erect, cane-like stems enveloped completely by imbricating leaf sheaths and carrying 4 to 6 distichous, subcoriaceous, narrowly oblong, unequally bilobed apically, basally clasping leaves with purple margins and blooming at any time of the year but mostly in the fall on a terminal, erect, racemose, flexuous, laterally compressed towards the apex, ancipitous, successively one to 2 open at a time, upwards of 60 flowered inflorescence with imbricate, elongate basal bracts and conduplicate, longer than the ovary floral bracts and carrying non-resupinate, non-fragrant flowers.
"Epidendrum villotae is part of GROUP Spathiger SUBGROUP Coriifolium characterized by the sympodial habit, coriaceous leaves, and the racemose, distichous inflorescence carrying fleshy green to purplish flowers. The caespitose growth, stems with 4 to 6 coriaceous, strap-like leaves and especially the erect, distichous, ancipitose inflorescence with open, long acute floral bracts, the apex pointed parallel to the rachis, successive flowers, produced 1 to 2 at a time, identify this species. It has been confused with Epidendrum coriifolium Lindl., a closely related species from Guatemala and Mexico, with short, compact plants, the inflorescence about as long as the leaves and flowers simultaneous. Epidendrum allochronum has 2 to 4 leaves which are wider .76 to 1.28" [1.9 to 3.2 cm], and the floral bracts are rounded and spreading, the apex not pointing inwards. Epidendrum imitans Schltr. from the eastern slope of the Andes in Central Ecuador has closely imbricating floral bracts with the apex rounded, several flowers open simultaneously, linear petals and a subtriangular lip." Hagsater etal 1999
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 3 The Genus Epidendrum Part 2 Plate 398 Hagsater 1999 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 4 The Genus Epidendrum Part 3 Plate 409 Hagsater 2001 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 11 Plate 1154 Hagsater & Sanchez 2008 see recognition section; Orchids of the Department of Valle De Cauca Colombia Vol 2 Kolanowska, Hagsater etal. 2014 photo drawing/photo fide; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 drawing/photo fide; Orquideas de Farallones de Cali Galindo-Tarazona, Haelterman, Zuluaga Trochez and Sebastian Moreno 2020 photo fide
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