Epidendrum stolidium Hágsater

Díaz-Morales, Melissa & Karremans, Adam P., 2016, Epidendra Nova Talamancana, Phytotaxa 272 (4), pp. 248-256 : 250-252

Epidendrum stolidium Hágsater in Hágsater & Soto Arenas (2005: 74)

Basionym: Oerstedella ornata Dressler (1982: 346) .

Type:— PANAMA. Chiriquí: arriba de Guadalupe, 2,200–2,300 m, October 1980, R. Dressler 5930 (holotype, US 2952906 / barcode 00093861; isotypes, AMO, F, MO 3106366 , MO 04568405 , PMA, U) .

Material Studied:— COSTA RICA. Limón: Talamanca, Bratsi, Parque Internacional La Amistad, Valle del Silencio, camino del refugio hacia el jardín (Turbera) antes de cruzar el Río Terbi , bosque pluvial montano, 2,411 m, 9°07’45.53” N 82°57’31.23” W, 18 September 2014, Karremans et al. 6350 (JBL-spirit!; fig. 2 ). Puntarenas: Buenos Aires, Parque Nacional La Amistad , Tararia, sendero a Cerro Kámuk , entre Cerro Dudu y Cerro Kámuk, 3056 m, 9°14’45” N 83°04’25” W, 10 November 1996, Rojas 3246 ( CR-INB!) .

Epiphytic, sympodial, branched herb, up to 125 cm tall including the inflorescence. Roots 3–5 mm in diameter, fleshy, basal. Stems 65.5–119.5 × 0.3–0.5 cm tall, erect or becoming pendent, cane-like, terete. Leaves 5–13, restricted to the apical half of the stem; leaf sheath 2.4–3.5 cm long, tubular, verrucose; blade 4.0–6.5 × 1.3–2.5 cm, articulate, lanceolate to ovate, acute, with entire margins. Spathaceous bracts lacking. Inflorescence 4.5–10.5 cm long, apical, racemose, erect; peduncle terete, covered at the base by a lanceolate, amplexicaul, acuminate bract. Floral bracts 3.5–4.0 mm long, up to 7 times shorter than the ovary, acuminate, amplexicaul, green. Ovary 28.5–30.0 mm, carinate, thin, dark pink dorsally, white cream ventrally, extending into three lobes alternate to the sepals, ca. 6 mm long, green ventrally, dark red dorsally, obovate, truncate, the ventral lobe bilobed, the apical margin irregularly dentate. Flowers 3–8 on each raceme, successive, 1–4 open at once, resupinate, pink to purple and white. Sepals 15.5–16.0 × 5.5–6.0 mm, free, spreading, 9-veined, glabrous, margin entire, 3–5 carinate abaxially; dorsal sepal light purple adaxially, pink to red abaxially, oblanceolate, obtuse; lateral sepals white adaxially, pink to red abaxially, oblong, obtuse. Petals 14.0 × 4.5 mm, free, spreading, 5-veined, glabrous, oblanceolate, obtuse, unguiculate, margin entire, pink. Lip 12.5–13.0 × 9.5–11.5 mm, fused to the column, unguiculate, trilobed, the margins entire, white; callus single, fleshy, channeled, with a rib in the middle that extends to the apex of the mid-lobe; lateral lobes obovate, obtuse; mid-lobe unguiculate, bifid, the lobes divaricate. Column 12.0– 12.5 mm long including the clinandrium-hood, straight, pink on the base, white on the apex; clinandrium-hood 7.0– 7.5 mm, white cream, margin denticulate, tube shaped, with two lateral lobes, fleshy, red dots on the apex of each lateral lobe; rostellum perpendicular to the axis of the column. Anther botuliform, 4-celled. Pollinia 4, oblong, laterally compressed, the inner pair half the size of the outer pair; caudicles laminar, shorter than the pollinia, brown. Capsule not seen. Note: Description based only on Karremans 6350.

Distribution:— Panama and Costa Rica.

Etymology:—The name is derived from the Greek stolidi, ornament ( Hágsater & Soto Arenas 2005).

Habitat in Costa Rica:—Known from La Amistad National Park. It grows epiphytically in a montane rainforest, at about 2400 m elevation.

Phenology:— Collected with flowers in September and November.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Epidendrum stolidium Hágsater. Lankester Composite Digital Plate (LCDP). A. habit. B. flower. C, dissected perianth. D. inflorescence. E. dorsal view of the sepal. F. dorsal view of the extension of the ovary. G. lateral view of the column and the lip. H. bud. I. column (lateral and ventral view).