Epidendrum armeniacum ("the Apricot Epidendrum") is an 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...

 species of reed-stemmed Epidendrum

Epidendrum

Epidendrum , abbreviated Epi in horticultural trade, is a large neotropical genus of the orchid family. With more than 1,100 species, some authors describe it as a mega-genus. The genus name refers to its epiphytic growth habit...

orchid that grows wild in Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

 (including Cochabamba

Cochabamba Department

Cochabamba is one of the nine component departments of Bolivia. It is known to be the "granary" of the country because of its variety of agricultural products due to Cochabamba's geographical position. It has an area of 55,631 km². Its population, in the 2007 census, was 1,750,000...

 and La Paz), Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, 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...

, 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 of 1—2 km.

Description

As is typical of E. subg. Spathium

Epidendrum subg. Spathium

John Lindley published Epidendrum subg. Spathium of the Orchidaceae. According to Lindley's diagnosis,, the E. subg. Spathium is recognizable by is sympodial habit with individual stems being slender and covered by the bases of the distichous leaves, by the lip of the flower being...

, E. armeniacum exhibits a sympodial

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:...

 growth habit with the individual stems showing no tendency to swell into pseudobulb

Pseudobulb

The pseudobulb is a storage organ derived from the part of a stem between two leaf nodes.It applies to the orchid family , specifically certain groups of epiphytic orchids, and may be single or composed of several internodes with evergreen or deciduous leaves along its length.In some species, it is...

s, imbricating foliaceous sheathes covering the stem, an apical peduncle

Peduncle (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...

 covered at its base by enlarged foliaceous spathes, and a 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:...

 adnate to the column

Column (botany)

The column, or technically the gynostemium, is a reproductive structure that can be found in several plant families: Aristolochiaceae, Orchidaceae, and Stylidiaceae....

 to its apex. The closely spaced, slightly flattened stems bear distichous, narrow, lanceolate, slightly folded, leathery leaves which are darker above than below and pointed at the tip, up to 14 cm long by 1.6 cm wide. The drooping racemose

Raceme

A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...

 inflorescence bears many small (4-5 mm across) apricot-colored flowers, subtended by maroon, 5 mm long bracts. The ovate-acute sepals are 3 mm long, as are the filiform petals, which are slightly dilated distally. The fleshy, hood-shaped lip has erect, rounded lateral lobes and a pointed midlobe, up to 4 mm long. The stout column is up to 2 mm long.

Derivation

The specific epithet, "armeniacum," of this Neotropical plant does not refer to Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

, but to the apricot (Prunus armeniaca), which was named from the belief that it was native to Armenia. The color of the E. armeniacum flowers is similar to the color of the fruit of P. armeniaca.