''Epidendrum dendrobii'' is a terrestrial species of reed-stemmed ''

Epidendrum ''Epidendrum'' , abbreviated Epi in the horticultural trade, is a large neotropical genus of the orchid family. With more than 1,500 species, some authors describe it as a mega-genus. The genus name (from Greek ''επί, epi'' and ''δένδρο ...

'' of the

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

which grows on steep slopes in tropical montane cloud forests of

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and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

at altitudes near 2.6 km.

Description

''Epidendrum dendrobii'' is a terrestrial,

sympodial Sympodial growth is a bifurcating branching pattern where one branch develops more strongly than the other, resulting in the stronger branches forming the primary shoot and the weaker branches appearing laterally. A sympodium, also referred to a ...

orchid with tall (~1.2 m.) slender stems without any swelling, covered with foliaceous sheaths, most tipped with long, acute, slightly keeled, distichous leaves. The inflorescences are short (1.5 cm) lateral racemes, or sometimes (Reichenbach, 1861) panicles, carrying six to eight waxy-textured flowers arising between spathaceous bracts. The sepals are somewhat broader than the petals. The lip is trilobate, with the lateral lobes larger than the median lobe. The callus consists of two lamina at the apex of the column, followed by three broad keels.

Taxonomic Quibbles

According to Kew (In July, 2009), ''E. dendrobii'' and ''E. pileatum'' (the type species of the subgenus ''E''. subg. ''Pleuranthium'') are the same species. Both Reichenbach, 1861 and Dodson & Vásquez, 1989, distinguish between ''E. dendrobii'', with smaller yellowish flowers, and ''E. pileatum'', with larger (> 1 cm) greenish flowers with each floral segment rolled backwards from the long axis (pileate).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5382757 dendrobii