''Epidendrum anceps'', literally the "two-edged upon a tree," a species of

epiphytic An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

orchid 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 ...

in the genus ''

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 ''δένδρ� ...

'', is sometimes known as the brown epidendrum or dingy-flowered epidendrum.

Description

''E. anceps'' exhibits a

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 ...

growth habit, producing closely spaced reed-like stems up to 5 dm tall (10 dm, according to Correll and Schweinfurth) which are flattened laterally (hence, ''anceps'') and covered by imbricating sheathes which bear leaves on the upper part of the stem. The wide tan-green coriaceous sessile linear-elliptic distichous leaves grow up to 22 cm long by 43 mm wide. The terminal inflorescence is a raceme at the end of a long

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

covered from its base by close, imbricating sheathes; sometimes additional racemes will arise from the nodes of the peduncle. The flowers typically contain significant amounts of chlorophyll and yellow pigment—these are often accompanied by enough purple pigment to give the flower a dingy, brown color. The oblong-ovate dorsal sepal can grow as long as 10 mm; the lateral sepals are often wider than the dorsal. The petals are linear. The

adnate Adnate may refer to: * Adnation, in botany, the fusion of two or more whorls of a flower * Adnate, in mycology, a classification of lamellae (gills) * Conjoined twins Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are ...

lip The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...

is heart- or kidney-shaped where it diverges from the column, is sufficiently three-lobed to be placed in the section ''E.'' sect. ''Schistochila'', and has a slight keel on the middle lobe, which is notched at the apex, sometimes with a little point.

Taxonomic confusion

This taxon has frequently been confused with '' E. secundum''

Jacq. Nikolaus Joseph Freiherr von Jacquin (16 February 172726 October 1817) was a scientist who studied medicine, chemistry and botany. Biography Born in Leiden in the Netherlands, he studied medicine at Leiden University, then moved first to P ...

due to an early publication claiming synonymy between these two very different taxa. In October 2009, Kew listed "''Epidendrum galeottianum'' A.Rich. & Galeotti, Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot., III, 3: 21 (1845)" as a synonym of ''E. anceps''.

Reichenbach Reichenbach may refer to: Places Austria * Reichenbach (Litschau), a part of Litschau * Reichenbach (Rappottenstein), a part of Rappottenstein Germany * Reichenbach (Oberlausitz), in Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis district, Saxony * Rei ...

thought that ''E. galleottianum'' was a separate species, and placed it in a different section, ''E''. sect. ''Holochila''; he also seems to have cited the authority differently: "Richard and Galeotti, Orch. Mex. p. 21". The original publication of ''E. galeottianum'' placed it in ''E.'' subg. ''Amphiglottium'' and made no reference to whether or not the lip was lobed; Reichenbach (1861) included no more information than

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

& Galeotti. Some continue to maintain that ''E. galleottianum'' and ''E. anceps'' are separate species.

References

Bibliography

* Donovan Stewart Correll, ''Native Orchids of North America North of Mexico'', 1950, Stanford University Press, pp. 286–287 {{Taxonbar, from=Q1595800

anceps In languages with quantitative poetic metres, such as Ancient Greek, Latin, Arabic, Sanskrit, and classical Persian, an anceps (plural ''ancipitia'' or ''(syllabae) ancipites'') is a position in a metrical pattern which can be filled by either a lo ...

Taxa named by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin Orchids of Central America Orchids of Belize