Epidendrum rousseffiana Collantes & Hágsater 2013 GROUP Andean SUBGROUP Renilabium
TYPE Photo by C Soto/TYPE Drawing by Collantes and The AMO Herbaria Website
Common Name Rouseff's Epidendrum [Brazilian President who visited Machu Picchu and has helped with Conservation efforts there current]
Flower Size 1.6" [4 cm]
Found in Cusco department of Peru near Machu Piccu in cloud forest at elevations around 2600 meters as a giant sized, cold growing epiphyte with cane-like terete, branching above stems carrying deciduous on the main stem, 5 on the branches, all along the apical half of the stem, distichous, articulate, elliptic to elliptic-obovate, obtuse with a small mucro, subcoriaceous, margin entire leaves that blooms in the fall on a terminal, racemose to pluriracemose, the first short and few flowered, the newer longer and more flowered, peduncle and rachis more or less laterally compressed, peduncle .38" [9 mm] long, subtended by a falcate bract, rachis 5" [12.5 cm] long, overall, basally arching, nutant, congested, successively to 7, 22 to 23 flowered inflorescence with shorter than the ovary, falcate, acute, amplexicaul floral bracts and carrying resupinate, pale green, slightly vanilla scented flowers.
"Epidendrum rousseffiana is part of GROUP Andean SUBGROUP Renilabium characterized by the tall plants, monopodial habit, generally large, bilobed leaves, racemose inflorescence, entire or 3-lobed lip with a channel at the base of the disc between the calli. The species is recognized by the wide, elliptic to obovate-elliptic, obtuse to apiculate leaves, the congested inflorescence, flowers opening in succession from the base of the inflorescence towards the apex, concolor, pale green flowers, transversely reniform lip and small calli, sepals .76 to .8" [19 to 20 mm] long. Epidendrum subreniforme C.Schweinf. is a shorter plant, with linear-oblanceolate petals, slightly shorter than the dorsal sepal; the blade of the lip is reniform, slightly retuse on each side, cordate at the base and somewhat retuse and obtusely apiculate in the middle of the widely rounded apex. Epidendrum renilabium Schltr. has tall plants, to 80" [2 meters], with oblong to oblong-lanceolate leaves 2.8 to 5.4" [7 to 16 cm] long, the arched inflorescence with very fleshy, yellowish green flowers that open in succession from the apex towards the base of the inflorescence, sepals .52 to .56" [13 to 14 mm] long, petals obovate-spatulate, apically rounded, and the bicallose lip with a pair of very fleshy, long calli that nearly reach the apical sinus of the lip. Epidendrum renilabioides Hágsater & Dodson, which grows up to the northern border of Ecuador, has externally purplish brown flowers, petals and lip greenish, the calli and the column white, petals are elliptic-spatulate, the apex obtuse, and the lip is “Y” shaped, with the lip apiculate, not emarginate. Epidendrum reniconfusum Hágsater, E.Santiago & Dodson, has somewhat larger, concolor green flowers, sepals .56 to .76" [14 to 19 mm] long, sub-acute petals, and two laminar very short calli, with an intermediate elongate keel; the apex of the anther is truncate, not dentate. Epidendrum sagasteguii Hágsater & E.Santiago has flowers that open from the base towards the apex of the inflorescence, sepals .44 to .58" [11 to 14.5 mm] long, widely obovate, obtuse petals with the margin dentate, and the lip is bicallose, the calli laminar and short." Hagsater 2013
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Icones Orchidacearum 14 Plate 1482 Hagsater & Dodson 2013 drawing/photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum 15 [1] Plate 1524 Hagsater & Sanchez 2015 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 16[2] Plate 1674 Hagsater & Sanchez 2018 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 17(1) Plate 1714 Hagsater & Jimenez 2019 see recognintion section
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