Epidendrum fimbriatum is a terrestrial (sometimes 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 high altitudes (2.2—3.4 km) 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...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, 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...

, 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....

, and Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

.

Description

Epidendrum fimbriatum produces rather slender stems without any tendency to produce pseudobulbs covered from the base to the last regular leaf with close, tubular imbricating sheaths which, on the upper part of the stem, bear distichous leathery ovate-oblong retuse leaves, up to 66 mm long by 6 mm wide. The apical inflorescence emerges from the last regular leaf uncovered by either sheath or spathe and terminates (usually) in a single congested raceme with floral bracts that can grow to nearly 1 cm long. The fleshy non-resupinate flowers are white to light rose with purple spots. The lanceolate to eliptic oblong sepals grow to nearly 6 mm long; the narrower petals are somewhat shorter. The fimbriated, unlobed, somewhat pointed 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:...

 is adnate

Adnation

Adnation in plants is the "union of unlike parts; organically united or fused with another dissimilar part, e.g. an ovary to a calyx tube, or stamens to petals". This is in contrast to connation, the fusion of similar organs....

 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 near its middle, as is more typical of the genus Prosthechea

Prosthechea

Prosthechea is a genus in the orchid family . The name is derived from the Greek word prostheke , referring to the appendage on the back of the column....

.

Homophony

Epidendrum fimbriatum Vell. (1831) nom. illeg. is a synonym for the different orchid, Laelia gloriosa

Laelia gloriosa

Laelia gloriosa is a species of orchid native to tropical South America....

(Rchb.f.) L.O.Williams (1941).

External links

Several pictures may be found at

• http://www.orchidspecies.com/epifimbriatum.htm
• http://maqui.ucdavis.edu/Images/Orchids/epidendrum_fimbriatum.html
• http://www.orchidphotos.org/images/poe2009flowers/large-31.html
• http://www.orchidphotos.org/images/orchids/POE2005/Fri/image023.htm

Images of herbarium specimens may be found at

• http://orchid.unibas.ch/phpMyHerbarium/5137.3/1/Epidendrum/fimbriatum/Humboldt_Friedrich_Wilhelm_Heinrich_Ale_Bonpland_Aime_Jacques_Alexandre_Kunth_Karl_Sigismund/specimen.php