Epidendrum anceps Jacq.

  • Family

    Orchidaceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Epidendrum anceps Jacq.

  • Primary Citation

    Select. Stirp. Amer. Hist. 224, pl. 138. 1763

  • Type Specimens

    Specimen 1: Photo of type -- N. J. von Jacquin s.n.

  • Description

    Author: Catherine V. Bainbridge

    Description: Epiphytic herbs, to ca. 60 cm tall. Pseudobulbs lacking. Reed-like stems, erect, slender and laterally flattened, the sheaths not inflated and oblique, new shoots arising from bases of old shoots. Leaves distichous, blades narrowly elliptic to oblong lanceolate, 4.5-15 x 2-4.5 cm, somewhat fleshy, variably suffused with red, the apex obtuse to retuse. Inflorescence terminal, umbellate, 15-45 cm long, bearing 3 to 15 flowers, these congested, resupinate, greenish-brown suffused with pink to reddish-tan, produced several times from the same scape, flowering simultaneously, the floral buds arranged at center; peduncle with imbricate, acute sheaths; dorsal sepal broadly oblanceolate to ovoid, 5.5-8 x 2.8-4.5 mm when fully extended, the apex obtuse; lateral sepals oblique; lateral petals linear, spatulate, the apex obtuse; lip always arranged towards the rachis, tri-lobed, 3.3-5.4 x 4.2-6.5 mm, as long as wide, the midlobe retuse (thus appearing 4-lobed), the margins not toothed, somewhat concave; column arcuate, obconic, narrow, 4-6 mm long; pollinia 4, the viscidium semi-liquid, the rostellum (stigma) is slit by removal of viscidium.

    Common names: Brown Epidendrum, Double-Edged Epidendrum, Dingy Flowered Star Orchid, Dingy-Flowered Epidendrum.

    Distribution: Southeastern United States (Florida), Costa Rica, Panama, and the Lesser Antilles at ca. 100 m.

    Ecology: In moist to wet forests. The floral buds and the flowers are often visited by ants.

    Phenology: This species has been observed with flowers in Jan and Mar.

    Pollination: Not recorded.

    Dispersal: Wind dispersed.

    Taxonomic notes: According to Dressler (1993), Epidendrum anceps Jacq. refers to plants from the West Indies with much wider petals, therefore Dressler recognizes E. galeottianum A. Rich & Galeotti as the Costa Rican species. However, Epidendrum anceps is the name used in the most recent treatment of this genus for the Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica (Eric Hágsater et al. in B. Hammel et al. eds., 2003). Epidendrum anceps Swartz (1788) is a later homon. illeg.

    Conservation: CITES Appendix II - Trade controlled to avoid use incompatible with species survival - Global. (UNEP WCMC 2003. Checkl. CITES Sp. 1–339).

    Uses: Ornamental.

  • Floras and Monographs

    Epidendrum anceps Jacq.: [Article] Mori, S. A., et al. 1997. Guide to the vascular plants of central French Guiana: Part 1. Pteridophytes, gymnosperms, and monocotyledons. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 76: 1-422.

    Epidendrum anceps Jacq.: [Article] Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

    Epidendrum anceps Jacq.: [Article] Ackerman, James D. 1995. An orchid flora of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 73: 1-203.

    Epidendrum anceps Jacq.: [Article] Schweinfurth, Charles. 1967. Orchidaceae of the Guayana Highland. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 14: 69-214.