Epidendrum marci-jimeneziorum Hágsater & R.Jiménez 2018 GROUP Arbusculum SUBGROUP Incomptum,
LCDP Photo © by R. Jiménez & A. Cisneros/TYPE Photo © by R Jimenez and The AMO Herbario Website
EARLIER
Common Name Marco Jimenez' Epidendrum [Marco Marcelo Jiménez León (1982-), and his father Marco Melecio Jiménez Villalta (1954-) of Zamora, Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador. The son graduated from the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL), became fascinated with orchids since early childhood with his father, an avid orchid collector, and has collected extensively in southeastern Ecuador, having published the first of 5 volumes of “Orquídeas de Zamora-Chinchipe”. He participated in the collection of the type, in a field trip with the author in late 2017, prior to the 22 World Orchid Conference held in Guayaquil, Ecuador.current]
Flower Size .72" [1.8 cm]
Found in Morona-Santiago and Napo provinces of Ecuador along the eastern slope of the Andes of northern and central Ecuador, at elevations of 1050 to 1670 meters as a small sized, cool growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, terete, straight, progressively shorter, covered by several non-foliar, tubular sheaths and carrying 3, aggregate towards the apex of each stem; leaf sheath tubular, striated, rugose, the lower ones non-foliar; blade spreading, narrowly elliptic, acute, subcoriaceous, smooth, dorsally slightly carinate, margin entire except towards the apex where it is minutely dentate, deep green above, underside purple leaves that blooms in the fall, winter and earlier spring on a terminal, without a spathe, peduncle and rachis laterally compressed, ancipitose, 1.2" [3 cm] long including the flowers, apical, from mature stem, flowering only once, racemose, sub-erect, successively single to 3,flowered inflorescence with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acute, embracing floral bracts and carrying resupinate, yellow-green, concolor flower with fragrance apparently lacking.
"Epidendrum marci-jimeneziorum belongs to the GROUP Arbusculum SUBGROUP Incomptum, which is characterized by the erect habit with successive lateral growths produced from the middle of the previous growth, few leaves aggregate towards the apex of the stems, roots produced generally only from the base of the primordial stem, inflorescences are short with fleshy yellowish to green to violet-green to black flowers with short ovaries, the lip entire to 3-lobed, the Proligerum Subgroup has inflated nectaries clearly visible along the apical half of the pedicellate ovary. This species is recognized by the small yellow-green flowers, sepals .34 to .36" [8.5 to 9.0 mm] long, lip slightly 3-lobed, the mid-lobe formed by two wide, short, rounded lobes, and the sub-globose, prominent calli. It has been confused with Epidendrum lechleri Rchb.f. which has larger flowers, sepals .4" [10 mm] long, a bilobed lip, lobes sub-orbicular, and the calli are elongate, obtuse. Epidendrum morganii Dodson & Garay, has short, few-flowered inflorescences, successive, green flowers tinged with purple-brown, sepals .52 to .72" [13 to 18 mm] long, the lip widely cordiform, apiculate, with two low, laminar, divergent calli. Epidendrum ecostatum Pabst, described from Brazil, has similar but smaller flowers, and the lip lacks any calli. Epidendrum jamaicense Lindl. also has an inflated nectary, but the lip is reniform, with the apex rounded and somewhat emarginate, revolute in natural position, and the lateral sepals are aristate. Epidendrum prietoi Hágsater from Ecuador, has dirty yellow flowers with purplish veins, the 3-lobed, lip with the lateral lobes dolabriform, the basal margin concave, and the distal margin convex, 1-veined petals and long, narrow calli, the disc with 3 low, narrow veins, the lateral veins trifid." Hagsater etal 2018
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Icones Orchidacearum 16[2] Plate 1681 Hagsater & Sanchez 2018 drawing/photo fide;
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