Epidendrum cryptorhachis Hagsater , Icon. Orchid. 8: t. 823. 2006.

Arista, Jessy Patricia, Hagsater, Eric, Santiago, Elizabeth, Edquen, Jose D., Pariente, Eli, Oliva, Manuel & Salazar, Gerardo A., 2023, New and noteworthy species of the genus Epidendrum (Orchidaceae, Laeliinae) from the Area de Conservacion Privada La Pampa del Burro, Amazonas, Peru, PhytoKeys 227, pp. 43-87 : 43

Epidendrum cryptorhachis Hagsater, Icon. Orchid. 8: t. 823. 2006.

Fig. 5

Type material.

Peru. [Amazonas: Rodríguez de Mendoza: Valle de] Guayabamba, 8 Mar. 1877, M. Vidal - Sénège s.n. (holotype: P!; isotype: P!). [Locality corrected, see note under Distribution.]

Description.

Lithophytic or epiphytic, sympodial, caespitose, erect and arching herb, 17-43 cm tall including inflorescence. Roots ca. 2-3 mm in diameter, basal, scarce, thin. Stems 6-11 × 0.2-0.6 cm, simple, short, cane-like, terete at base, laterally compressed toward apex, thin, flexuous. Leaves 3-6, distributed throughout stems, alternate, sub-erect; sheath 0.8-2.0 × 0.2-0.6 cm, infundibuliform when dry, minutely striated; blade 2.8-10 × 0.4-0.8 cm, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, succulent and coriaceous, canaliculate, margin entire. Inflorescence 16-32 cm long, apical, paniculate, arching-nutant, densely, many-flowered; peduncle 6-16 × 0.07-0.4 cm, elongate, longer than leaves, thin, ancipitose, two-winged, slightly sinuous, provided with 1-5 bracts 1.7-3.2 × 0.1-0.4 cm, each subtending a raceme, tubular and ancipitose at base, conduplicate above, long, acuminate; panicle with 6-9 short, straight, short racemes 1.4-2.7 cm long, densely 8-10-flowered, sub-parallel to axis of inflorescence, enveloped at base by large conduplicate bracts 1.0-2.5 × 0.1-0.3 mm, similar to those of peduncle but progressively shorter toward apex. Floral bracts 1-2 mm long, small, shorter than ovary, triangular, acute. Flowers ca. 90, 4-14 per raceme, small, membranaceous, simultaneous, resupinate, sepals ochre to pale green, petals and lip yellow, column yellow tinged brown, anther brown red; fragrance not registered. Sepals spreading, free, 3-veined, margin entire, revolute; dorsal sepal 3.3-3.7 × 1.6-2.0 mm, ovate-elliptic, sub-acute, lateral sepals 3.5-4.2 × 1.0-2.2 mm, oblong, apex obtuse, slightly oblique, short apiculate. Petals 3.0-3.7 × 0.6-0.7 mm, free, parallel to column and embracing it, narrowly obovate, apex rounded, 1-veined, margin entire, revolute. Lip 3 × 5.3 mm, united to column, bilobed, widely hexagonal, base cordate, apex emarginate, margin entire, sides revolute in natural position, somewhat apron shaped; lobes 2.0-2.8 × 3.3-4.3 mm, from semi-orbicular to obliquely triangular-quadrate; bicallose, calli prominent, finger-like, short, sub-erect at apex, disc with a low-wide, mid-rib reaching apical sinus, and 3 low rounded thickenings on each side. Column 2.8 × 0.9 mm, short, slightly arching, apex oblique, with short, obliquely truncate fleshy column wings. Clinandrium hood short, concave, margin entire. Anther spherical, with a very low rounded keel in front, 4-celled. Pollinia 4, nearly lentil-shaped, laterally compressed, translucent; caudicles very short. Rostellum apical, slit; viscarium semi-liquid, transparent. Lateral lobes of stigma 1.7 mm long, very short, ¼ length of stigmatic cavity, very slender. Cuniculus penetrating 1/3 of ovary, much inflated behind perianth, smooth. Ovary 5.3 × 2 mm at apex (including vesicle), terete, glabrous, furrowed, thin along basal 2/3, ventrally inflated toward apical 1/3, forming a prominent globose vesicle. Capsule not seen.

Additional specimens examined.

Ecuador. Zamora-Chinchipe: km 44 Loja-Zamora, Dodson s.n. ex Missouri Bot. Garden " 61-150-57 SEL! (illustration AMO!);" Peru. Amazonas: Bongará: Yambrasbamba, Perla del Imaza , Área de conservación privada La Pampa del Burro , 1763 m, 28 Aug. 2021, Arista et al. 128 (KUELAP!) ; Cajamarca: San Ignacio, San José de Lourdes, Buenos Aires , 1880 m, 3 Nov. 2000, Calatayud 804 (CUZ!) ; Huánuco: Between Huánuco and Pampayacu, 28 Jan. 1927, Kanehira 26 (AMES!) .

Other records.

Peru. Amazonas: Chachapoyas: Molinopampa, 2400-2700 m, 13 Nov. 2010, Dalström 3240, digital images (AMO!).

Distribution.

The species is presently known from the Amazon slope of the Andes in northern Peru and southern Ecuador, spanning some 720 km, at about 1750-2700 m elevation. Six localities have been identified, but the species is probably more widespread and common, and the terrain in between has not been thoroughly botanized. When first published, this species was thought to have come from Guayabamba in Ecuador, but recently we have learned that the Valley of Guayabamba is the valley of Rodriguez de Mendoza, south of Chachapoyas, in the department of Amazonas, Peru. Thus, this is the first confirmed record for Peru, though it had been collected earlier.

Habitat and ecology.

Lithophytic in cliffs and trunk epiphyte on Inga Mill. in humid premontane forest, "Ceja de Selva", with Cinchona L. ( Rubiaceae ) and Cedrela P.Browne ( Meliaceae ).

Phenology.

Flowering from August to March.

Taxonomic notes.

Epidendrum cryptorhachis belongs to the Epidendropsis Group, Gracillimum Subgroup, characterized by the sympodial, caespitose, relatively small plants with non-thickened stems, long, paniculate inflorescences, delicate small flowers, and long, narrow, sub-coriaceous leaves. The species is recognized by long, many-raceme inflorescence, about twice as long as the apical leaf or more, appearing at first sight racemose, with the racemes parallel to the peduncle, each raceme subtended by a bract, petals narrowly spatulate, with a wide reniform, sub-hexagonal bilobed lip, deeply cordate, the sides revolute and thus appearing apron-shaped. It is similar to Epidendrum gracillimum Rchb.f. & Warsz. but that species has narrower leaves, fewer flowers, a long narrow cuniculus penetrating about half the ovary, linear petals, and an entire, reniform lip. Epidendrum physophorum Schltr. from Bolivia has a much shorter inflorescence, the branches spreading, the flowers smaller, the inflated cuniculus at the apex of the ovary, the comparatively slenderer column, the petals linear, and the reniform, entire lip with a dentate-erose margin.

Figures

Figure 5. Epidendrum cryptorhachis from Arista et al. 128 A habit B flower C dissected perianth D inflorescence E longitudinal section of flower F column and ovary-pedicel from below (left) and side (right) G anther from above (up) and below (down), and pollinarium (Photographs by J. D. Edquen; plate prepared by A. Cisneros).