Epidendrum pinniferum C.Schweinf. 1938 GROUP Oerstedella SUBGROUP Wallisii

Photo by © Lourens Grobler

Drawing

Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website

Common Name The Fin-Like Epidendrum [refers to the lobes of the lip which simulate the fin of a fish]

Flower Size 1.2" [3 cm]

Found in Costa Rica and Panama at elevations of 800 to 2200 meters as a large sized, warm to cold growing epiphyte with elongate, simple, terete, erect stems enveloped in the lower part by strongly verrucose, non-foliaceous, tubular sheaths and carrying numerous, on the upper 2/3 of the stem, alternate, articulate, elliptic, acute, minutely apiculate, subcoriaceous leaves that blooms in the spring on an apical and lateral near the apex, racemose, laxly few flowered, terete, thin inflorescence with much shorter than the ovaries, narrowly ovate, acute floral bracts and carrying flowers .

" Epidendrum pinniferum belongs to the GROUP Oerstedella which is characterized by the sympodial habit, mostly verrucose stems, and the rostellum which is perpendicular to the axis of the column instead of parallel, forming a wide, open sinus, and without a viscidium, and the SUBGROUP Wallisii which has large, fleshy flowers, the lip entire or 3- lobed, the midlobe of the lip bilobed, the clinandrium-hood petaloid, and the pollinia obovoid, laterally compressed and with granulose caudicles. The species is recognized by the large, fleshy, showy flowers, sepals .6 to .68" [15 to 17 mm] long, the sepals and petals reflexed, yellowish-brown with darker spots, the 3-lobed lip with the subquadrate lobes pink-lilac with intense lilac spots towards the apex and on the underside. Epidendrum schweinfurthianum Ames is similar but the leaves are lanceolate and narrower, .16 to .19" [4 to 18 mm] wide, has smaller flowers, sepals .4 to .48" [10 to 12 mm] long, the sepals and petals are copper-orange, with the lip purple-violet, the lip 3-lobed with the lateral lobes bifid, the basal lobe rounded and the apical lobe acute. Epidendrum pseudoschumannianum Fowlie has slightly smaller flowers, sepals .52 to .6" [13 to 15 mm] long, spreading, dorsally violet-blue sepals and petals, ventrally pale orange with reddish brown dots, the lip and column violet with the fragrance is reminiscent of Stanhopea oculata." Hagsater etal 2008

Synonyms Oerstedella pinnifera (C.Schweinf.) Hágsater 1981

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Ceiba Vol 5 No 1 L O Williams 1956; Orquídea (Mexico City), n.s., 7[3]: 1979 photo fide; Orchids Travel By Air A Pictoral Safari Mulder, Mulder-Roelfsema and Schuiteman 1990 as Oerstedella pinnifera photo fide; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 1567 Mora & Atwood 1993 as Oerstedella pinnifera drawing fide; Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003 as Oerstedella pinnifera; Icones Orchidacearum 8 plate 871 Hagsater 2006 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 8 plate 887 Hagsater 2006 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 8 plate 887 Hagsater 2006 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 8 Plate 899 Hagsater & Sanchez 2006 see recognition section; Orchids of Costa Rica Vol 1 Morales 2009 photo fide; Orquideas, Tesoro de Colombia Vol 2 Ortiz & Uribe 2017 photo fide; Vanishing Beauty, Native Costa Rican Orchids Vol 2 Lacaena to Pteroglossa Pupulin 2020 photo fide

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