Epidendrum spathatum Schltr. 1917 GROUP Pseudepidendrum SUBGROUP Paniculatum Photo courtesy of © Lourens Grobler

Inflorescence Photo courtesy of Eric Hunt, plant grown by Dan Newman of Hanging Gardens.

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Common Name The Spathed Epidendrum [refers tothe bracts on the inflroescence but they are not true spathes]

Found in Ecuador on rocks and roadbanks at elevations of 1600 to 3200 meters as a cool to cold growing terrestrial or lithophyte with simple, laterally compressed, decumbent stems carrying 9 to 27, all along the stem, elliptic, shortly acuminate, margin entire, articulate below into the base leaves that blooms in the summer on a terminal, paniculate, occuring only once, 4 to 12.4" [10 to 31 cm] long, laterally compressed, many flowered inflorescence enveloped by 2 to 4, tubular, conduplicate, ancipitose, acuminate bracts and shorter than the ovary, triangular-lanceolate, longly acuminate flora lbracts and carrying 50 to 140 simultaneously opening, resupinate flowers.

Cited as a synonym of Epidendrum porphyreum but they differ in the callus on the lip.

Synonyms Epidendrum embreei Dodson 1982

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 5 COS 1994 photo ok; Icones Orchidacearum Part 12 Plate 1293 Hagsater 2009 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum 13 Plate 1388 drawing fide;

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