Epidendrum cruciforme Hágsater & E.Santiago 2006 GROUP Oerstedella SUBGROUP Aberrans

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

Cool LATEFall

Common Name or Meaning The Cross-Like Epidendrum [refers to the lip]

Flower Size 1/2" [1.25 cm]

Found in Nicaragua on the cordillera central in cloud forests at elevations around 1300 meters as a small to medium sized, cool growing epiphyte with simple, reed-like, terete, thin stems enveloped basally by tubular, non-foliaceous, verrucose sheaths and carrying 4 to 6, towards the apex of the stem, lanceolate, acute leaves that blooms in the fall on a terminal, occuring only once, racemose, 1.2 to 2" [3 to 5 cm] long including the .36" [9 mm] long, thin, smooth, terete peduncle, simultaneously to 15 flowered inflorescence without a spathe but has prominent, narrowly triangular, acute, half as long as the ovary or more floral bracts and carrying resupinate, pink to white with pink apices flowers.

"Epidendrum cruciforme belongs to the GROUP Oerstedella SUBGROUP Aberrans characterized by pink flowers, a column with an elongate clinandruim-hood, and bird wing type pollina with unequal, laminar caudicles. The species is recognized by the very small flowers with sepals .18 to .28" [4.5 to 7 mm] long, pink or white and pink flowers, the petals upright, nearly parallel to the dorsal sepal, the somewhat arching ovary, humped column, and the lip nearly totally free from the column, 3-lobed the lateral lobes perpendicular to the axis of the lip, oblong, triangular, and lhe midlobe simple, with the apical half rhomoic due to small, wide, triangular lobes. It is similar to Epidendrum unicallosum Hágsater which has lilac-pink, somewhat larger flowers with sepals .368 to .4" [9.2 to 10 mm] long the ovary triquetrous and straight, the 3-lobed lip united to the column throughout and the very fleshy midlobe of the lip. Epidendrum atypicum Hágsater & E.Santiago has spreading flowers, a triquetrous ovary and a 3-lobed lip united to the column throughout, with the lateral lobes cuneate and the midlobe subulate very fleshy and the tridentate callus laminar. Epidendrum aberrans Schltr. has pink flowers with a white lip, the lip united to the column throughout, and the lateral lobes of the lip inserted at a 45° angle, with the midlobe clearly bilobed" Hagsater etal 2006

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidaceaeum 8 Plate 822 Hagsater & Sanchez 2006 drawing fide;

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