Epidendrum pumilum Rolfe 1893 GROUP Oerstedella SUBGROUP Verrucosum
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Photo by © Daniel Jimenez
Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The AMO Herbario Website
to 
Ocassional
Common Name The Dwarf Epidendrum [refers to the size of the described plant]
Flower Size 1/4" [6 mm]
Found in Costa Rica and Panama in lower montane cloud forests as a miniature to medium sized, cool to cold growing epiphyte at elevations of 1600 to 2650 that has erect to slightly arching, simple, cane-like, cylindric, terete, thin stems enveloped basally by verrucose leafless sheaths and carrying several, distichous, subcoriaceous, broadly elliptic-ovate, subcordate at the base, retuse apically leaves with a terminal, 3/4 to 2 3/4" [2 to 7 cm] long, racemose inflorescence subtended by triangular bracts occuring in the fall and occasionally in the summer with simultaneous to successive opening flowers.
"Epidendrum pumilum belongs to the GROUP Oerstedella which is characterized by the sympodial habit, mostly verrucose stems, and the rostellum which is incumbent to the column instead of parallel, forming a wide, open sinus, without a viscidium, and SUBGROUP Verrucosum recognized by the small to medium sized, membranaceous flowers with sepals and petals immaculate, a bilobed clínandrium-hood slightly surpassing the body of the column obovoid and subequal pollinia with long granulose caudicles. The species is distinguished by the greenish yellow flowers with the sepals frequently purple-brown dorsally, the lip with a few purple spots, sepals .2 to .28" [5 to 7 mm] long, the apex of the column 3-lobed, surpassing the body of the column and the callus is tridentate. Epidendrum endresii Rchb J. has white flowers, the lip more or less colored with lilac, the flowers somewhat larger with the sepals .3 to .4" [7.5 to .10 mm] long, the apex of the column 4-lobed and the lip bicallose. NOTE: We consider E. adophii Schltr. synonymous with E. endresii, though Schlechter himself confused his E. adolphii with E. pumilum Rolfe, (Repert. Spec. Nov. Regnl Veg. Belh. 19: 125 and 217. 1923.) As with several other species of the GROUP Oerstedella , E. pumilum has two color forms, the light colored greenish yellow form, and the darker form, with the dorsal surface of the sepals purple-brown." Hagsater 2006
Synonyms Epidendrum acrochordonium Schlechter 1918; Oerstedella acrochordonia (Schltr.) Hágsater 1981; Oerstedella pumila (Rolfe) Hágsater 1981
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 19: 33. Costa Rica Schlechter 1923 as E acrochordonium; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 19: 115. Costa Rica Schlechter 1923 as E acrochordonium; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 19: 125. Costa Rica Schlechter 1923; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 19: 217. Costa Rica Schlechter 1923; The Genus Epidendrum Ames 1936; Ceiba Vol 5 No 1 L O Williams 1956; Orchids Travel By Air A Pictoral Safari Mulder, Mulder-Roelfsema and Schuiteman 1990 as Oerstedella pumila photo fide; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum plate 1462 Atwood 1992 as Oerstedella pumila drawing fide; Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama Dressler 1993 as Oerstedella pumila; Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003 as Oerstedella pumila; Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 880 Hagsater 2006 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 931 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 9 Plate 942 Hagsater 2007 see recognition section; Orchid Digest Vol 74 #2 2010 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
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