Epidendrum cardenasii Hágsater

Quispe-Melgar, Harold Rusbelth, Llacua-Tineo, Elizabeth Santiago Ayala Yashira Stefani & Hágsater, Eric, 2023, Synopsis of the Peruvian species of Epidendrum (Orchidaceae: Laeliinae) belonging to the Scabrum group, subgroup Soratae: diversity and description of a new species, Phytotaxa 603 (1), pp. 1-26 : 10

2. Epidendrum cardenasii Hágsater , (1999: t. 320). ( Figure 4B )

Type:— BOLIVIA. Cochabamba: Ayopaya, Sailapata , 3500 m, November 1935, Martín Cardenas Hermosa 3301 (holotype AMES! isotype: AMO!)

Distribution:— Peru and Bolivia. In Peru it is found in the departments of Ayacucho, Cusco, Pasco and San Martin, along the eastern slope of the Andes. The species has a wide latitudinal distribution, from northern Peru to Bolivia, but its records show populations with an apparently fragmented distribution, although it is very likely that there are still unreported populations in the intermediate zones.

Notes:— Epidendrum cardenasii is distinguished the green, concolor flowers which turn yellow as they age, the leaves 1.6–5.1 × 0.3–0.7 cm, narrowly lanceolate, apex acute, the lateral sepals 11.2–13 mm long, the lip 8–10 × 10–12.5 cm, entire, hexagonal in outline, the calli prominent, laminar, divaricate. It has been confused in herbarium specimens with Epidendrum obliquum which is distinguished by the dorsal sepal 8 mm long, the lip 4.6 × 8 mm, reniform.

Conservation Status:— DD. Data deficient. As most orchids, listed in CITES appendix II.

Examined specimens:— PERU. Ayacucho: Prov. La Mar, Chungui , 6 June 2020, Nadi s.n., digital image, ( AMO!) — Cusco: Prov. Urubamba: Santuario Histórico de Machu Picchu y Camino Inca , 14 December 1987, P . Núñez 8320, ( MO! USM!) — Pasco: Prov. Oxapampa; Distr. Huancabamba; Comunidad Campesina Santa Barbara 3420–3510 m, 16 August 2005, C . Arias 464, ( HOXA! MO!) —- San Martín: Prov. Rioja, Distr. Pardo Miguel, Venceremos , 2103 m, 15 November 2021, J . D. Edquén 5247, digital images, ( AMO!) .

Figures

FIGURE 4. Species of the Soratae subgroup of the genus Epidendrum present in Peru. Illustrations by: R. Jiménez M. (A, B, D, E). D. Trujillo (C). M. López R. (F).