Epidendrum frons-bovis Kraenzl. 1905 GROUP Pseudepidendrum SUBGROUP Paniculatum

Drawing by © Jimenez and The AMO Herbaria Website

Common Name The Bulls Head Epidendrum [Refers to the lobes of mid lobe of the lip as the horns of a bull]

Flower Size .6" [1.5 cm]

Found in Loreto province of Peru at elevations of 600 to 1200 meters as a large sized, warm to cool growing orchid with simple, cane-like, basally terete, laterally compressed towards the apex, thin, straight, erect stems enveloped basally by non-foliar, tubular, scarious sheaths and carrying 15, all along the stem, distichous, articulate, erect-spreading, unequal in size, basal and apical leaves smaller, lanceolate to elliptic, acute to short-acuminate, margin entire leaves that blooms in the winter on a terminal, paniculate, erect, peduncle, thin, laterally compressed, straight, enveloped by a tubular, acute bract, rachis terete, thin, 5 sub-spreading few flowered branches, simultaneously to 30 flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, narrowly triangular, acuminate, amplexicaul floral bracts and carrying resupinate, green brown flowers with a white lip.

"Epidendrum frons-bovis belongs to the GROUP Pseudepidendrum is characterized by caespitose plants, cane-like stems, acute to acuminate leaves, apical inflorescence, lacking a spathaceous bract, the petals filiform and the lip usually 3- lobed, with 3 parallel fleshy keels, the apical lobe often bifurcate, and the pollinia “bird-wing” type and SUBGROUP Paniculatum which has green and white flowers, often marked with purple on the disc of the lip and apex of the column. The species has tall plants, to 36" [90 cm], lanceolate to elliptic leaves 1.2 to 6.4" x .6 to 1.6" [3 to 14 x 1.5 to 4 cm]; brownish green flowers, the lip white, sepals .36 to .4" [9 to 10 mm] long, the column strongly arched, lip 3-lobed, ca. .14 to .2 x .32 to .36" [3.5 to 5 x 8 to 9 mm], mid-lobe very short, with a pair of corniform lobes. Epidendrum parviflorum reported from the same area has thin stems, ca. .08" [2 mm] thick, linear-lanceolate leaves 2 to 2.8"x .2 to .28" [5 to 7 x 0.5 to 0.7 cm], small flowers, sepals .2" [5 mm] long, and the lip slightly 3-lobed, .6 x .12" [1.5 x 3 mm]. Epidendrum capricornu Kraenzl. has large flowers with sepals .56 to .6" [14 to 15 mm] long, purple-brown outside, the inner surface pale yellow, lip pink-salmon, the apical lobes of the lip are straight and somewhat upright, the column straight and grows at elevations of 1750 to 2750 meters." Hagsater etal 2010

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1332 Hágsater & Sanchez 2010 drawing fide

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