Epidendrum radicans Pavon ex Lindley 1831 GROUP Schistochilum SUBGROUP Calanthum Complex Flexuosum Photo courtesy of Jay Pfahl

to MOSTLY THROUGH

Common Name The Ground Rooting Epidendrum

Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]

Found from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela and Colombia as a large sized, hot to warm growing terrestrial or lithophyte growing most in open areas between grasses and rocks, especially on roadside banks in pine oak forest and mountain rain forest at elevations of 900 to 2500 meters as a medium sized, hot to cool growing reedstem orchid with ovate to elliptic, an unequally bilobed apex, coriaceous leaves that are evenly distributed along the stem that blooms the most between fall and spring on a terminal, erect, 10 to 38" [25 to 50 cm] long, umbelliform inflorescence with successive opening, resupinate flowers all clustered in a ball at the apex. It differs from Epidendrum ibaguense H.B.K. in having roots all along the stem and a creeping habit, never caespitose. I have this 15 or so of this species planted directly in the ground in my front yard and it is almost everblooming and it is a very impressive site.

Synonyms Epidendrum pratense Rchb.f. 1866; Epidendrum rhizophorum Batem. ex Lindley 1838

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum plate 731 Dodson 1982; Icones Orchidacearum I Plate 40 Hagsater and Salazar 1990; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 2 COS 1991; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum plate 1433 Atwood 1993; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum plate 1520 Atwood 1993 see notes; AOS Bulletin Vol 63 No 3 1994 photo; OS Bulletin Vol 67 No 9 1998 photo; Orchidaceae Antillanae Nir 2000; The Orchids of Cuba Llamacho & Larramendi 2005; AOS Bulletin Vol 75 No 2 2006 photo; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 11 Plate 1105 Hagsater & Sanchez 2008; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 11 Plate 1125 Hagsater & Sanchez 2008 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 11 Plate 1130 Hagsater & Sanchez 2008 see recognition; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 11 Plate 1171 see recognition section Hagsater & Sanchez 2008;

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