Epidendrum acrobatesii Hagsater & Dodson, Icon. Orchid. 4: t. 402. 2001.
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publication ID |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.227.101907 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/6CC1E448-BB5E-53B5-9235-73F3DCA98130 |
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treatment provided by |
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scientific name |
Epidendrum acrobatesii Hagsater & Dodson, Icon. Orchid. 4: t. 402. 2001. |
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Epidendrum acrobatesii Hagsater & Dodson, Icon. Orchid. 4: t. 402. 2001. View in CoL
Fig. 3 View Figure 3
Type material.
Ecuador. Loja: N slope of Nudo de Sabanilla S of Yangana on road to Valladolid, 4°28'S, 79°10'W, 2500 m, 24 Feb. 1988, U. Molau & B. Eriksen 3191 (holotype: GB!; isotypes: AAU! QCA!).
Description.
Epiphytic or terrestrial, monopodial, branching, erect herb, 31-34 cm tall including inflorescence. Roots 1-3 mm in diameter, emerging only from base of primary stem, fleshy, thick. Stems cane-like, erect, somewhat sinuous, branching from sub-apical internodes; primary stem 16 × 0.5 cm; secondary stems 1.5-14.6 × 0.3-0.4 cm. Leaves ca. 19 on primary stem, 5-14 on secondary stems, distributed throughout stems, usually only apical 3-5 leaves remaining at flowering, alternate, articulate; sheath 0.7-1.4 × 0.3-0.5 cm, tubular, rugose, striated; blade 2.2-3.8 × 0.7-1.4 cm, length:width 3:1, apical leaf usually reduced, elliptic, mucronate, light green on both sides, apical margin minutely erose-dentate, spreading. Spathe lacking. Inflorescence up to 7.6 cm long including flowers, apical, flowering only once, racemose (sometimes with a short branch near base), erect in early stages, becoming arching-nutant as it develops; peduncle 5-7 mm long, terete, rachis 15-33 mm long, developing as new flowers are formed, flexuous, compact, ornamented with a short keel at base of each floral bract. Floral bracts 1-3 mm long, much shorter than ovary, ovate, conduplicate, acute to obtuse. Flowers 6-12, successive, 1-2 open at a time in different stages, with smaller buds present, erect, facing upwards, yellow to green; apparently not fragrant. Sepals 10-12 × 3.5-4.2 mm, free, spreading, narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, acute, slightly aristate, especially the lateral sepals, 5-veined, margins entire, revolute. Petals 12 × 0.6-1.8 mm, free, spreading, linear or linear-obcuneate, obtuse to rounded, 1-veined, margins entire, spreading. Lip 5.0-7.7 × 7.0-9.0 mm, cordiform in general outline, deeply 3-lobed, somewhat concave basally in natural position with lateral margins and apex more or less revolute; bicallose, calli 3.7 × 0.6 mm, elongate, parallel, with a mid-rib running to apical sinus, disc with multiple thickened veins, converging basally and radiating apically; lateral lobes 3.2 × 7.0 mm, semi-sagittate, apex acute, margins progressively short-laciniate; mid-lobe 3.1 × 3.2 mm, quadrate to obcuneate, apex truncate to emarginate, with a wide sinus, margins entire to erose. Column 7-8 mm long, thin, straight. Clinandrium hood truncate, margin entire. Anther reniform. 4-celled. Pollinia 4, obovate, laterally compressed, inner face of each pair flat; caudicles short. Rostellum apical, slit; viscarium semi-liquid, transparent. Cuniculus penetrating half of pedicellate ovary and widened toward the middle of the ovary, forming a narrowly ellipsoid vesicle. Ovary 17-24 × 1.6-3.2 mm, slightly inflated ventrally beyond middle forming an elongate vesicle, but narrow near apex, furrowed. Capsule not seen.
Additional specimens examined.
Peru. Amazonas: La Pampa del Burro , 22 Aug. 2021, Arista et al. 21 (KUELAP!) ; Pasco: Oxapampa, Parque Nacional Yanachaga-Chemillén, parte alta de la trocha Tunqui-Cajonpata , sector Tunqui , 1950 m, 31 Oct. 2007, Monteagudo 15793 (HOXA!) .
Other records.
Peru. Amazonas: Chachapoyas: Distr. Longuita, Fortaleza Kuelap, 14 Nov. 2019, Harding s.n., digital images (AMO!); Bongará: Yambrasbamba; Progreso, 30 Dec. 2019, Velásquez s.n., digital images (AMO!); San Martín: Prov. Rioja, Distr. Pardo Miguel Naranjos, 1962 m, 6 Nov. 2015, Edquén 2042, digital images (AMO!); Ibid. loc., 1691 m, 22 Feb. 2017, Edquén 2043, digital images (AMO!); Ibid. loc., 1790 m, 20 Feb. 2017, Edquén 2044, digital images (AMO!); hort. Moyobamba, 9 Jan. 2017, Goicochea s.n., digital images (AMO!).
Distribution.
Widespread from Ecuador (Napo and Zamora-Chinchipe) south to Oxapampa, Pasco, in central Peru. The range of the species along the upper eastern slope of the Andes in Ecuador and central Peru spans some 1150 km, with at least 7 known localities. Growing at 1691-2500 m.
Habitat and ecology.
Epiphytic, found on very wet fallen logs with abundant moss, in primary montane humid forest or elfin forest, often with afternoon fog. Sometimes at the base of Chusquea Kunth. Also terrestrial on edge of roadside banks of white sand with abundant organic material in elfin forest.
Phenology.
Flowering throughout the year.
Taxonomic notes.
Epidendrum acrobatesii has leaves with a length:width proportion about 3:1, elliptic, with the margin minutely erose-dentate, the inflorescence 5 cm long, with 6-12 greenish yellow flowers, sepals 10-12 mm long, petals linear to linear-obcuneate, and the lateral lobes of the lip nearly as long as the mid-lobe, which is apically truncate to emarginate. Epidendrum batesii Dodson has proportionately narrower leaves, 2.5-3.4 × 0.6-0.8 cm, length:width 4:1, the mid-lobe of the lip shorter and entire, 2.3-2.5 mm long. Epidendrum oxybatesii Hágsater & Dodson from northern Ecuador is distinguished by the long, acicular mid-lobe of the lip.
This is an addition to the flora of Peru. The Batesii Group has a peculiar architecture in that the new stems produced from the apical half of the basal stem can be as long as the primary stem, and those closest to the apex are produced first, with shorter stems being later produced further down the primary stem.
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