Epidendrum fortunae Hágsater & Dressler 2006 GROUP Oerstedella SUBGROUP Intermixtum

TYPE Drawing by © Lopez and The AMO Herbaria Website

Part Shade Cool LATE Winter EARLYSpring

Common Name The Fortuna Epidendrum [A hill and dam where the species was discovered]

Flower Size .8" [2 cm]

Found in eastern Panama at elevations of 1100 to 1400 meters as a medium sized, cool growing epiphyte with simple, cane-like, terete, erect stems carrying 10 or more, all along the upper half, lanceolate to elliptic, unequally bilobed apically leaves that blooms in the later winter and spring on a terminal and lateral, erect, racemose to slightly paniculate, the 4 to 6 lateral ones spreading, straight, each 4 to 6 flowered, terminal one the same, simultaneously 20 to 42 flowered orchid overall with much shorter than the ovary, triangular, acute floral bracts and carrying resupinate flowers with the tepals pale green and the column and lip white.

"Epidendrum fortunae belongs to the GROUP Oerstedella which is characterized by the sympodial habit, mostly verrucose stems, and the rostellum whlch is transverse to the column instead of parallel, forming a wide open sinus, and SUBGROUP Intermixtum which has small, membranaceous flowers with a bifid, petaloid clinandrium-hood, and laterally compressed, obovoid pollinia with long, granulose caudicles. The new species is closely similar to E. fuscinum, and is distinguished from it by the taller plants, smaller flowers with sepals .36 to .44" [9 to 11 mm] and the noticeably smaller lip and the lateral lobes being only slightly longer than wide .08 to .12" [2 to 3 mm] long. Epidendrum fuscinum has .52 to .6" [13 to 15 mm] long sepals, with the lateral lobes of the lip .28 to .4" [7 to 10 mm] long, and about 2 to 3 times longer than wide. It is closely related to Epidendrum folsomii Hágsater which is found at lower altitudes, 600 to 800 meters in elevation around El Copé; that species flowers in July to October. It appears that these three species are highly localized, though clearly recognizable by the size, thickness of the flowers and especially the lip. Nearly all specimens have been previously identified as Epidendrum intermixtum Ames, F.T.Hubl. J. & C.Schweinf. which is restricted to central- western Costa Rica and not found in Panama." Hagsater etal 2006

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 818 Hagsater and Sanchez 2006 see recognition section; Icones Orchidacearum Vol 8 Plate 832 Hagsater & Sanchez 2006 see recognition section; * Icones Orchidacearum 8 Plate 833 Hagsater & Dressler 2006 drawing fide

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