Epidendrum brachyblastum Hagsater & Dodson, Icon. Orchid. 7: t. 713. 2004.

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 brachyblastum Hagsater & Dodson, Icon. Orchid. 7: t. 713. 2004.

Fig. 4

Type material.

Ecuador. Pastaza: Mera, 11 km, cañada del Río Anzú, 1225 m, collected 10 Dec. 1986, flowered in cultivation 6 May 1987, E. Hágsater & C. H. Dodson 9093 (holotype: AMO, spirit! flower card and color slides, AMO!).

New taxonomic synonym.

Epidendrum enantilobum Hágsater, Icon. Orchid. 16(1): pl. 1616 (2018) syn. nov. Type: Peru. San Martín: Rioja-Pomacochas road, below Venceremos, ca 20 km NW of Rioja, near Restaurante El Amigo, 1600 m, 8 Feb. 1984, A. H. Gentry & D. N. Smith 45148 (holotype: NY!; isotype: MO-349072!)

Description.

Epiphytic, sympodial, caespitose, erect herb, 30-55 cm tall including inflorescence. Roots 2 mm in diameter, basal, fleshy. Stems 6-53 × 0.3-0.5 cm, simple, cane-like, terete, thin, straight. Leaves 5-12 distributed along apical 2/3 of stem, sub-erect, alternate, sub-coriaceous; sheath 10-14 mm long, tubular, minutely striated; blade 3.3-11.5 × 1.0-2.5 cm, narrowly elliptic to oblong-elliptic, acuminate, minutely apiculate; margin entire, spreading. Spathe lacking. Inflorescence 5-12.5 cm long, apical, racemose to paniculate, compact, arched; peduncle 4 cm long, short, terete, thin, nearly totally covered by 1-3 basal bracts, 1.5-2.2 cm long, terete, triangular-lanceolate, acuminate, embracing; rachis 2-3.5 cm long, short, terete, thin, straight to arching. Floral bracts 4-14 mm long, progressively shorter, triangular-lanceolate, acuminate. Flowers 9-25 per raceme, simultaneous, resupinate, lip always oriented toward rachis, medium to dark green, lip and apical half of column white; fragrance not registered. Sepals 6.0-7.0 × 3.2-3.8 mm, free, fleshy, spreading, slightly concave, obovate, obtuse, minutely apiculate, margins entire, spreading; dorsal sepal 3-veined; lateral sepals 3-veined, with lateral veins bifurcate from base and appearing 5-veined. Petals 5.0-6.1 × 1.0-1.6 mm, free, spreading, narrowly spatulate, obtuse, 1-veined, apical margin slightly erose, spreading. Lip 4.5-6.4 × 5.0-7.0 mm, united to column, 3-lobed, base cordate; bicallose, calli thin, short, disc provided with a low, rounded mid-rib reaching apical sinus; lateral lobes 2.4-2.8 × 1.3-3.0 mm, falcate, narrow, sub-acute, posterior margin somewhat erose; mid-lobe 2.0-3.7 × 1.5-4.5 mm, isthmus sub-rectangular, gradually narrower then deeply bifid toward the apex, lobes long, narrowly triangular, cirrhose, acuminate, divaricate, apices revolute. Column 5-8 mm long, slightly arched, base thin, abruptly thickened ventrally, with a pair of truncate lateral wings. Rostellum sub-apical, slit; viscarium semi-liquid. Lateral lobes of stigma half as long as stigmatic cavity. Anther ovoid, 4-celled. Pollinia 4, bird-wing-type, unequal, inner pair about ¾ size of outer pair. Cuniculus without penetrating pedicellate ovary, narrow at base and widening toward entrance, unornamented. Ovary 7-15 mm long including pedicel, terete, thin, not inflated, unornamented, furrowed. Capsule not seen.

Additional specimens examined.

Peru. Amazonas: Bongará, Florida, Laguna Pomacocha , km 335 on the road to Rioja , 2360 m, 26 Jan. 1964, Hutchinson 3809 (UC! USM!); Yambrasbamba, Perla del Imaza , Area de Conservacion privada La Pampa del Burro , 1682 m, 28 Aug. 2021, Arista et al. 148 (KUELAP!) ; San Martín: Carretera Rioja-Pedro Ruiz , 1450 m, 24 Mar. 1998, van der Werff 15568 (MO!) .

Other records.

Peru. Amazonas: alrededores de Chachapoyas, 2400 m, Morón s.n., digital images (AMO!); San Martín: Moyobamba, Soritor, San José El Doncel, 3 Feb. 2021, Bazan 1, digital images (AMO!).

Distribution.

Presently known from Ecuador, near Mera in Pastaza, to northeastern Peru, in the border between Amazonas and San Martín, on the eastern Andean range near Moyobamba. The species has only been collected along two well-paved roads: the Troncal Amazónica, in Ecuador, and the Carretera Marginal de la Selva Fernando Belaunde Terry, in Peru. Growing at 1100-2360 m.

Habitat and ecology.

Epiphytic in wet forest.

Phenology.

Flowering from January to August.

Taxonomic notes.

Epidendrum brachyblastum belongs to the Bicirrhatum Group, which is characterized by the caespitose habit, simple, cane-like stems, short, arching, pluriracemose, sub-capitate inflorescence, narrowly spathulate petals, 3-lobed lip, generally with cirrate apical lobes and unequal, laterally compressed pollinia, with the inner pair smaller. Epidendrum brachyblastum medium to deep green flowers with the lip and apical half of the column snow white, the lateral lobes of the lip are narrow and falcate, the mid-lobe is split into two apical cirrhose lobes. It closely resembles Epidendrum tiwinzaense Hágsater & Dodson, which has pale green (vs. deep green) flowers, with the column and lip cream-colored, the lip with very wide dolabriform lateral lobes. It also closely resembles E. bicirrhatum D.E.Benn. & Christenson, which has opaque, pale cream-orange flowers, the sepals and petals green at the base, the tips of the calli keels lavender, and the column white at the base, cream-yellow above.

The type specimen of E. brachyblastum was prepared from a cultivated plant not in the best cultural conditions, with few, large flowers, and shorter apical lobes of the lip, thus not being a good representative of the species, which was later described as E. enantilabium Hágsater, here included in the synonymy of E. brachyblastum . Hutchison 3809 was collected in 1964, but only recently identified as E. enantilabium , ergo the species was known earlier from Peru.

Figures

Figure 4. Epidendrum brachyblastum from Arista et al. 148 A habit B flower C dissected perianth D inflorescence at apex of stem E longitudinal section of flower F column and ovary-pedicel from side (left) and below (right) G anther from above (left) and below (right), and pollinarium (Photographs by J. D. Edquen; plate prepared by A. Cisneros).