''Epidendrum coriifolium'' is 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 ...

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 ...

which grows both terrestrially and

epiphytically 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 ...

at altitudes of 1.4—1.7 km in dense forests in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, 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 ...

Description

''E. coriifolium'' impressed early taxonomists by being glazed over with a shining exudation. A member of ''E.'' subg. ''Epidendrum'', this species has stems that do not swell into pseudobulbs, close imbricating sheathes covering the stems from the base to the last regular leaf, terminal inflorescences which emerge from the last regular leaf without being covered by any sheath or spathe, and a

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 ...

which is

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 ...

to the

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

to its apex. The 2-5 distichous, leathery to fleshy leaves are concave and carinate, to 3 dm long by a half dm wide. The inflorescence, up to 3 dm. long, bears large, distichous, leathery foliar bracts that are longer than the ovaries. The fleshy flowers are variable in color — cream to green to purple-brown or mahogany, often showing purple nerves on the sepals and brownish blushes around the margins of the green lip. The 1–3 cm long sepals are lanceolate, the dorsal oblong or elliptic, the laterals obliquely ovate, broader than the dorsal, and bearing a toothed keel on the back. The linear petals are slightly shorter than the sepals. The cordate to reniform lip has an elevated callosity down the middle, which extends into a blunt apicule in the retuse end of the lip. Lindley compared ''E. coriifolium'' to ''E. rigidum'' Jacq (1760) not Lodd. (1829), noting that ''E. coriifolium'' flowers are 3—4 times bigger, and the leaves are longer and narrower (reported in Reichenbach, 1861).

Homonymy

'' Epidendrum allochronum'' Hágsater (1993) was originally described by

Schlechter Schlechter is a family surname of German origin, which literally means “worse”. Notable people with this surname: * Carl Schlechter (1874–1918), Austrian chess master * Emanuel Schlechter (1906–1943), Polish lyricist, composer, writer * L ...

in 1922 as the variety ''purpurascens'' of ''Epidendrum coriifolium''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5382750 coriifolium Orchids of Brazil Orchids of Ecuador Orchids of Mexico Orchids of Central America Orchids of Venezuela