Epidendrum

Epidendrum (pron.: /ˌɛpɨˈdɛndrəm/),[1] abbreviated Epi in the horticultural trade,[2] 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 (from Greek ɛpɨ, epi and δένδρον, dendron, "upon trees") refers to its epiphytic growth habit.
When Carolus Linnaeus named this genus in 1763, he included in this genus all the epiphytic orchids known to him. Although few of these orchids are still included in the genus Epidendrum, some species of Epidendrum are nevertheless not epiphytic.

Synonymy


Epidendrum radicans in the wild.

Epidendrum sp. in the wild.
Initially, European taxonomists applied the generic epithet Epidendrum to all newly discovered epiphytic orchids. Gradually, many of these "Epidendrums" were recognized as being quite diverse and deserving of different generic epithets—many belong to different tribes or subtribes (e.g. Vanda). To add to the confusion, however, many descriptions of closely related species were published with different generic epithets.
As if the confusion caused by these publications were not great enough, many closely related genera (or perhaps subgenera, sections, or subsections) have been recognized and published. According to the modern rules of taxonomy, each new proposed genus that is split off from Epidendrum must bear the name of the oldest generic epithet published for a member of the new genus. Hence, many genera which have been brought into synonymy with Epidendrum have later been segregated out again. Because most of these decisions rest on the informed opinions of authorities, the segregated taxa are often then re-published as synonyms. Hence, some of the following information may seem a bit contradictory, especially if the assertion that two names are "synonyms" is misconstrued as an assertion that the two names mean exactly the same thing.
The following genera have been brought into synonymy with Epidendrum:
Genera which have been erected (or resurrected) from Epidendrum include the following examples:
  • Anacheilium (Lindl..) Withner & P.A.Harding 2004. This genus contains more than 50 species, reclassified from Prosthechea, Encyclia, and Epidendrum.
  • Barkeria
  • Dimerandra
  • Caularthron
  • Coilostylis (Raf.)Withner & Harding
  • Encyclia This is another "mega-genus" differing from Epidendrum in that the plants are mostly pseudobulbous, and in that the lip "encircles" the column, rather than being adnate. Like Epidendrum, genera have been and are likely to continue to be split off from this genus.
  • Euchile (Dressler & G.E. Pollard) C.L. Withner 1998 was elevated from a section of Encyclia with two species.
  • Hormidium Lindl. ex Heynh, described by Brieger as having the lip adnate to the proximal part of the column. Brieger placed more than 100 species in this genus. (Lindley was unsure if this was a genus, subgenus, or section.) Withner and Harding recently transferred two more species into this genus: one from Epidendrum and one from Encyclia.
  • Microepidendrum Brieger ex W.E.Higgins 2002
  • Nanodes
  • Oerstedella Rchb.f.
  • Oestlundia W.E.Higgins 2001
  • Panarica Withner & P.A.Harding 2004 contains six species, some from Prosthechea and some from Epidendrum
  • Pollardia Withner & P.A.Harding 2004 contains seventeen species, some from Prosthechea and some from Epidendrum.
  • Prosthechea This debatable genus contains the "cockleshell orchids", with lips which are adnate to the column only about halfway to the apex, and which "encircle" the end of the column. Most of the species of this genus were long classified in Encyclia. Some species of this genus have been placed in Anacheilium (Lindl.) Withner & P.A.Harding 2004 and Panarica Withner & P.A.Harding 2004.
  • Pseudencyclia Chiron & V.P.Castro 2003
  • Psichylus

Species

Epidendrum sensu latu is a huge genus, embracing more than 2,000 binomials (about 1,100 accepted names and the rest have become synonyms of other species). More than 1,000 have been split off into new or resurrected genera. However, it is estimated that there are more than 2,000 Epidendrum orchids, many of which still have to be discovered. More than 400 new species have lately been described by Eric Hágsater and colleagues (see: Reference).
Several botanists have been honored with an Epidendrum orchid named after them, including the following:

Hybrids

Only a few natural hybrids have been named, such as Epidendrum × doroteae, Epidendrum × gransabanense and Epidendrum × purpureum.
Epidendrum orchids hybridize readily with members of the genus Cattleya (Epicattleya is the accepted nothogenus for such a hybrid) and other related genera such as Brassavola (producing a Brassoepidendrum). There are also multi-generic hybrids, for example, Adamara is the nothogenus for hybrids containing ancestor species from each of the genera Brassavola, Cattleya, Epidendrum, and Laelia, but no others. (For several decades, the nothogeneric epithet Yamadara was commonly used to mean Adamara.)

List of Epidendrum species:

 

This is a list of the accepted names of Epidendrum orchids. It is a large list, containing over 1,100 species.
Epidendrum L., (1763).

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