Epidendrum exasperatum Rchb. f. 1866 GROUP Oerstedella SUBGROUP Verrucosum
Photo by © Pieter C. Brouwer and his Nature Photo Website
Photo courtesy of Andy's Orchids Copyright © 2002 All rights reserved.
Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
to 
and EARLY 
Common Name The Smooth Epidendrum
Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]
Found in Costa Rica and western Panama as a large sized, warm to cold growing epiphyte or lithophyte in lower and upper montane rain forests at elevations of 850 to 2500 meters with cane-like, terete, erect to slightly arched, warty, branching, 3 ft. [90 cm] long canes which can produce plantlets, basally covered by tubular, non-foliaceous sheaths, with minute purple-brawn warts, barely noticeable to the sense of touch, and carrying 11 to 13 to numerous, distributed throughout the stem, alternate, articulate, unequal (those of the main stem larger than those of the branches and keikis), subcoriaceous, thin, with tubular, spotted with light brown dots when young basal sheaths, 2" [5 cm] long, narrowly elliptic to linear, bilobed, with a low dorsal keel, margin minutely dentate leaves that blooms in the winter and early spring on apical and or lateral, peduncle terete, thin, racemose to somewhat paniculate, laxly, simultaneous, though the apical buds may still be closed when the lower ones open, 3 to 9 flowered inflorescence with shorter than the ovary, triangular-ovate, acute, those of the basal flowers foliose floral bracts and carrying resupinate, sweetly fragrant, longlasting flowers each 1" [2.5 cm] wide.
"Epidendrum exasperatum belongs to the GROUP Oerstedella SUBGROUP Verrucosum characterized by the small to medium, membraneous flowers with immaculate sepals and petals, a bilobed clinandrium-hood slightly surpassing the body of the column, obovoid, subequal pollina with long-granulose caudicles. The species is recognized by the large, robust, branching plants, the sheaths only dotted in brown, without obvious warts, flowers greenish-brown, rarely white, lip and column white, the lip somewhat tinged with violet, sepals dorsally aculeate- verrucose, the lip forming 4 similar obcuneate lobes, the lateral ones with 1 to 2 prominent acute teeth. Epidendrum parviexasperatum (Hagsater) Hágsater has less vigorous plants, the sheaths have minute warts, similarly colored but smaller flowers, sepals dorsally rugose-pustulate, lateral lobes of the lip truncate, and do not form acute teeth. Epidendrum x monteverdense (Pupulin & Hágsater) Hágsater is distinguished by the creamy to pale green flowers, unornamented sepals, the apex of the column tinged violet and the lateral lobes of the lip truncate to slightly bidentate.
Synonyms Epidendrum chondranthum Kranzlin 1929; Oerstedella exasperata (Rchb. f.) Hágsater 1981
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Beitr. Orchid.-K. C. Amer. 87. 1866 ; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 19: 37. Costa Rica Schlechter 1923; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 19: 119. Costa Rica Schlechter 1923; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 19: 212. Costa Rica Schlechter 1923; The Genus Epidendrum Ames 1936; The Orchids of Panama L.O. Williams & P Allen 1946; Ceiba Vol 5 No 1 L O Williams 1956; Orquideologia Vol 12 No 1 1977; Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 9 513 - 576 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1977; Orchids Travel By Air A Pictoral Safari Mulder, Mulder-Roelfsema and Schuiteman 1990 as Oerstedella exasperata photo fide; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum plate 1460 Atwood 1992 as Oerstedella exasperata drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 63 No 1 1994 photo fide; Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003 as Oerstedella exasperata; Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 811 Hagsater 2006 See recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 831 Hagsater & Sanchez 2006 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 868 Hagsater 2006 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 869 Hagsater 2006 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 931 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 993 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 11 Plate 1145 Hagsater 2008 see recognition section; Orchids of Costa Rica Vol 1 Morales 2009 photo fide; Lankesteriana 19(1). 31 - 55 2019 photo fide; Vanishing Beauty, Native Costa Rican Orchids Vol 2 Lacaena to Pteroglossa Pupulin 2020 photo fide
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
