Epidendrum friderici-guilielmi is a species of orchid in the genus 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...

which grows naturally at altitudes of 1.7—3.0 km. in 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 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...

.

Description

Epidendrum friderici-guilielmi is a reed-stemmed Epidendrum, with tall, closely spaced stems covered by distichous, tubular sheaths. On the upper part of the stem, the sheathes bear broad oblong leaves, up to 3 dm long by 1 dm wide, which are pointed at the end. The very large 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...

  erupts from a single elongate spathe at the apex of the stem. The 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 purple to crimsonflowers, with the widely-opened segments as much as 1 dm from the floral axis. The sepals and petals grow 13—23 mm long, with the petals slightly shorter than the sepals. The 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 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, is cordate where it separates from the column, and is deeply trilobate. The lateral lobes of the lip are rotund, and the medial lobe is tongue-shaped with a sharp end.