Epidendrum mutelianum Cogn.
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Authority
Ackerman, James D. 1995. An orchid flora of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 73: 1-203.
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Family
Orchidaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Plants caespitose epiphytes. Roots numerous, produced from base of stems and short rhizomes, 1-2 mm diam. Stems several, slightly swollen but sometimes not evident in pressed specimens, to 40 cm tall only upper portions leafy. Leaves 3-5, distichous; blades elliptic-lanceolate, acute to obtuse, to 10 cm long, 2 cm wide. Inflorescences terminal, peduncles 2-4 cm long, racemes 4-6 cm long, several-flowered; floral bracts linear-lanceolate, 4-9 mm long. Flowers yellow-orange; buds rarely open. Pedicellate ovary 2-2.5 cm long. Sepals fleshy, concave, oblong-oblanceolate, acute, 10-12 mm long, 4 mm wide. Petals oblanceolate, rounded to acute, narrower than the sepals. Lip adnate to 3/4 the length of column; lamina trilobed; lateral lobes falcate, rounded; midlobe laterally expanded at apex; disc callosities several, small. Column 6-7 mm long; pollinia 4. Fruit stipitate, beaked, ca. 4 cm long.
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Discussion
10. Epidendrum mutelianum Cogniaux in Urban, Symb. Ant. 6: 530. 1910. Type. A s for Epidendrum flavum, below. Epidendrum flavum Mutel, Mem . Soc. Roy. Sci. Lille 151. 1843, non Lindley. 1840. Type. L'Herminier s.n., from Guadeloupe (G; P specimen not seen). Phenology & Pollination. Plants bloom in November and December and bear fruits during the winter. The flowers may be cleistogamous. Taxonomic Notes. The flowers are morphologically very similar to those of Epidendrum pallidiflorum Hooker. A specimen was made of one plant by pickling some flowers and pressing others (Ackerman 2055, UPRRP). These were compared with the diagnostic drawings of Garay and Sweet (1974). The pickled flowers looked like E. pallidiflorum, but upon drying, they appeared more like E. mutelianum because the broad, rounded lip callus constricts, the isthmus narrows dramatically, and the terminal lobes are accentuated. The lateral lobes appeared more like E. mutelianum in both the dry and pickled flowers, but without the callosities extending into them. The petals of both approximate the shape of E. pallidiflorum best. However, E. pallidiflorum specimens at K and B M , some of which are illustrated, including the type (Guilding s.n., from St. Vincent, K), indicate cream flowers with purple or magenta lines. Our plants have entirely yellow-orange flowers. Furthermore, E. mutelianum is short-pedunculate, whereas the peduncle of E. pallidiflorum exceeds the length of the subtending leaves. Illustration. Garay & Sweet, 1974.
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Distribution
General Distribution. The Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico (new record). Distribution in Puerto Rico. Known from montane regions of Caguas, Cayey, Las Piedras, Naguabo, and Rio Grande. Habitat. Epiphytic on tree trunks in wet forests at high elevations (700-900 m); rare.
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