Epidendrum ibaguense
Encyclopedia
Epidendrum ibaguense is a species of epiphytic orchid of the genus Epidendrum
Epidendrum
Epidendrum , abbreviated Epi in horticultural trade, is a large neotropical genus of the orchid family. With more than 1,100 species, some authors describe it as a mega-genus. The genus name refers to its epiphytic growth habit...

 which occurs in Trinidad, French Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia and Northern Brazil.

There is a good article on this species in the Português Wikipedia. There is a somewhat longer article in the Hungarian Wikipedia.

Taxonomy

The article in the Hungarian Wikipedia inexplicably asserts that E. denticulatum
Epidendrum denticulatum
Epidendrum denticulatum, one of the crucifix orchids, is a reed stemmed species which, at least in herbarium specimens, is frequently confused with E. secundum Jacq....

is a synonym for E. ibaguense. (According to the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, published by Kew, these are two separate species.)

According to Reichenbach, E. ibaguense belongs to the subsection Tuberculata Rchb.f. of section Schistochila Rchb.f. of subgenus Amphiglotium Lindl..

According to Kew,, E. decipiens Lindl. (1853) (p. 391, Reichenbach 1861)) and E. schomburgkii var. confluens (p. 389-390, Reichenbach 1861) are synonyms of E. ibaguense; according to Reichenbach 1861, these two separate species belong to the subsection Carinata.

Other synonyms (according to Kew) :
  • Epidendrum decipiens Lindl., 1853
  • Epidendrum schomburgkii var. confluens Lindl., 1853
  • Epidendrum chrysostomum Rchb.f.,1856
  • Epidendrum bituberculatum Rolfe, 1892
  • Epidendrum planiceps Kraenzl., 1911
  • Epidendrum laetum Schltr., 1919
  • Epidendrum fraternum Schltr., 1920
  • Epidendrum smithii Schltr., 1920
  • Epidendrum sororium Schltr., 1920
  • Epidendrum miquelii Schltr., 1925
  • Epidendrum ibaguense var. confluens (Lindl.) C.Schweinf., 1944

Description

Like the other members of Epidendrum
Epidendrum
Epidendrum , abbreviated Epi in horticultural trade, is a large neotropical genus of the orchid family. With more than 1,100 species, some authors describe it as a mega-genus. The genus name refers to its epiphytic growth habit...

subgenus Amphiglotium Lindl., E. ibaguense exhibits a pseudo-monopodial
Monopodial
Vascular plants with monopodial growth habits grow upward from a single point. They add leaves to the apex each year and the stem grows longer accordingly...

 growth habit: it produces a vertical stem covered with the sheathing bases of distichous leaves and without the swelling typical of the pseudobulb
Pseudobulb
The pseudobulb is a storage organ derived from the part of a stem between two leaf nodes.It applies to the orchid family , specifically certain groups of epiphytic orchids, and may be single or composed of several internodes with evergreen or deciduous leaves along its length.In some species, it is...

s found in many sympodial
Sympodial
Sympodial means "with conjoined feet", and in biology is often used to refer to the outward morphology or mode of growth of organisms.-In botany:...

 orchids. However, E. ibaguense is actually sympodial: the peduncle
Peduncle (botany)
In botany, a peduncle is a stem supporting an inflorescence, or after fecundation, an infructescence.The peduncle is a stem, usually green and without leaves, though sometimes colored or supporting small leaves...

 of the inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

, tightly covered for most of its length by thin, overlaping sheaths, is terminal, not lateral. A new growth is then (usually) produced from near the base of the old one, although E. ibaguense will frequently produce a keiki
Keiki
Keiki is the Hawaiian word for "baby" or "child", literally meaning "the little one". In horticulture, it refers to a plant produced asexually by an orchid plant, usually used when referring to Dendrobium, Epidendrum , and Phalaenopsis orchids...

 from an old inflorescence. Like the other members of Epidendrum Amphiglotium section Schistochila Rchb.f., E. ibaguense flowers are borne on a congested, successively flowering raceme at the end of a long peduncle, and have a trilobate lip
Labellum
Labellum is the Latin diminutive of labium, meaning lip. These are anatomical terms used descriptively in biology, for example in Entomology and botany.-Botany:...

 that is adnate to the column to the very apex. Like the members of the subsections Carinata Rchb.f. and Tuberculata Rchb.f., the three lobes of the E. ibaguense lip are deeply fringed or lacerate. Like E. radicans
Epidendrum radicans
This ground-rooting orchid is a common roadside weed at middle elevations in Central America. A crucifix orchid, it is often confused with many other members of the section Schistochila, including E. calanthe, E. cinnabarinum, E. denticulatum, E. erectum, E. fulgens,...

, (but unlike E. secundum
Epidendrum secundum
Epidendrum secundum, one of the crucifix orchids, is a poorly understood reed stemmed species, which Dressler describes as "the Epidendrum secundum complex." According to Dressler, there are dozens of varieties, some of which appear to deserve species rank...

Jacq., E. fulgens
Epidendrum fulgens
Epidendrum fulgens is a crucifix orchid native to Brazil. Like E. secundum, with which it has been found to hybridize in habitats disturbed by human activity, E. fulgens flowers are non-resupinate and are born in a congested racime at the end of a long spike...

, E. puniceoluteum, and E. cinnabarinum
Epidendrum cinnabarinum
Epidendrum cinnabarinum, is a terrestrial reed-stemmed Epidendrum, discovered by the German collector Philipp Salzmann in Bahia, close to Salvador, and published by John Lindley in 1831. The specific epithet refers to the vermilion flowers. E. cinnabarinum is similar to E. fulgens and E...

) the flowers of E. ibaguense are resupinate.E. ibaguense differs from E. radicans
Epidendrum radicans
This ground-rooting orchid is a common roadside weed at middle elevations in Central America. A crucifix orchid, it is often confused with many other members of the section Schistochila, including E. calanthe, E. cinnabarinum, E. denticulatum, E. erectum, E. fulgens,...

by producing most of its roots from near the bottom of the stem, and producing stems that "really stand up." Like E. secundum
Epidendrum secundum
Epidendrum secundum, one of the crucifix orchids, is a poorly understood reed stemmed species, which Dressler describes as "the Epidendrum secundum complex." According to Dressler, there are dozens of varieties, some of which appear to deserve species rank...

Jacq. and E. radicans
Epidendrum radicans
This ground-rooting orchid is a common roadside weed at middle elevations in Central America. A crucifix orchid, it is often confused with many other members of the section Schistochila, including E. calanthe, E. cinnabarinum, E. denticulatum, E. erectum, E. fulgens,...

, different individuals of E. ibaguense can produce flowers that are lavender, red, orange, or yellow.

The chromosome number of an individual collected in Serra Pacaraina, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, has been determined as 2n = 70.

External links

A photograph of the flowers may be found at:
  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/toddboland/3967978457/
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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