Epidendrum hemiscleria
Encyclopedia
Epidendrum hemiscleria is a sympodial
epiphytic
orchid
native to the tropical cloud forest
of Ecuador
(Loja
in particular) and Peru
, at altitudes near 3.3 km.
emerges from the apex of the stem, and is covered by tight imbricating sheaths. The inflorescence is a compact raceme of bright orange fleshy flowers, approximately 1 cm across. The three sepals are erect, concave, and similar. Lindley noted that there were two round auricles on the column, not the lip
, and that the lip was not adnate to the column to its apex; this was why he placed it in the separate genus Hemiscleria with the specific epithet referring to the nodding stems The has three keels. According to Reichenbach, 1861, the lip is linear and without lobes, belonging to E. sect. Holochila ("Labellum indivisum"); according to Dodson & Dodson 1989, Lindley's auricles are the lateral lobes of the trilobate lip, which would put this species in the subsection E. subsect. Integra of section E. sect. Schistochila ("Schistochila integra" according to Reichenbach, 1961).
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:...
epiphytic
Epiphyte
An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...
orchid
Orchidaceae
The Orchidaceae, commonly referred to as the orchid family, is a morphologically diverse and widespread family of monocots in the order Asparagales. Along with the Asteraceae, it is one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species,...
native to the tropical cloud forest
Cloud forest
A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...
of Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
(Loja
Loja Province
Loja Province is one of 24 provinces in Ecuador and shares its southern border on the west by El Oro Province, on the north by El Azuay, and on the east by Zamora-Chinchipe. Founded on its present site in 1548 by Captain Alonso de Mercadillo the site had been previously moved and rebuilt from La...
in particular) and Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, at altitudes near 3.3 km.
Description
E. hemiscleria stems grow to 1 m long, and sometimes branch in the middle The erect to nodding stems do not swell like pseudobulbs and are covered by imbricating sheathes which bear narrow eliptic leathery alternate leaves, 1 dm long, except near the stem bottom. Like other members of the subgenus E. subg. Amphiglottium Lindl. 1841, the pedunclePeduncle (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...
emerges from the apex of the stem, and is covered by tight imbricating sheaths. The inflorescence is a compact raceme of bright orange fleshy flowers, approximately 1 cm across. The three sepals are erect, concave, and similar. Lindley noted that there were two round auricles on the column, not the 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:...
, and that the lip was not adnate to the column to its apex; this was why he placed it in the separate genus Hemiscleria with the specific epithet referring to the nodding stems The has three keels. According to Reichenbach, 1861, the lip is linear and without lobes, belonging to E. sect. Holochila ("Labellum indivisum"); according to Dodson & Dodson 1989, Lindley's auricles are the lateral lobes of the trilobate lip, which would put this species in the subsection E. subsect. Integra of section E. sect. Schistochila ("Schistochila integra" according to Reichenbach, 1961).