Epidendrum ackermanii Hágsater 2004 GROUP Secundum SUBGROUP Secundum Photo by © the Presious of Cailan
Drawing TYPE Drawing by © Jimenez, Hágsater & E.Santiago and The Amo Herbario Website
THROUGH
Common Name Ackerman's Epidendrum [Botanist in Puerto Rico current]
Flower Size .6" [1.5 cm]
Found in Puerto Rico in disturbed areas in wet forests at elevations of 450 to 1350 meters as a medium to large sized, hot to cool growing terrestrial, epiphyte or lithophyte with terete, simple, cane-like stems carrying many, all along the stem, becoming smaller above, lanceolate, acute, mucronate, coriaceous leaves that blooms in the winter through summer on a terminal, elongate, 4.8 to 14.4" [12 to 36 cm] long including the 10 to 12" [25 to 30 cm] long peduncle, subcorymbose, 15 to 25 flowered inflorescence without a spathe and with 5 to 6, tubular, scarious bracts and shorter than the ovary, triangular, acuminate to acute floral bracts with successively opening, non-resupinate flowers.
"Epidendrum ackermanii belongs to the GROUP Secundum SUBGROUP Secundum which is characerized by the caespitose habit, terete stems with several oblong-elliptic, acute to bilobed, distichous leaves, the scape elongate, with a short, apical raceme of successive, non-resupinate flowers, with a complicated, pluri-tuberculate callus. The species is recognized by the lanceolate, acute leaves, rhombic, straight, 5-veined petals, the elliptic, acute, straight, 5-veined sepals and the subquadrate lip in general outline, slightly longer than wide, the outline irregular dentate-laciniate, the lip formed by subequal, suborbicular lobes, the apical ones being somewhat larger; the flowers are pink, with a white blotch on the disc covering more than the callus. It resembles Epidendrum secundum Jacq. from the lesser Antillies which has smaller f1owers, the petals oblanceolate-cuneate, somewhat oblique and 3-veined, the sepals obliquely obovate, obtuse, 3-veined, with the lateral veins branching so as to appear 6-veined above, the lip trapezoid in outline, wlder than long, the margin deeply fimbriate, the lateral lobes larger than the apical lobes, the apical lobe widely flabellate, truncate. In the Greater Antillies it is vegetatively similar to Epidendrum wrightii Lindl. which has orange flowers, a deltate-ovate lip, V-shaped callus, prolonged into a central keel. It has been confused with Epidendrum anceps Jacq., which has lanceolate to obovate leaves of variable length, and a subcorymbose inflorescence with simultaneous purple-brown, fleshy flowers, and an ecallose lip with suborbicular lateral lobes, and entire margins." Hagsater etal 2004
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; The Orchids of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands Ackerman 1992 as E secundum; *Icones Orchidacearum Vol 7 Plate 701 Hagsater & Sanchez 2004 drawing fide; Icones Orchidacearum Part 8 Plate 848 Hagsater 2006 lacerum see recognition section; Orchid Flora of the Greater Antilles Ackerman 2014 drawing fide
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