Brown-Flower Butterfly Orchid (Epidendrum bifarium)
Description
E. anceps exhibits a sympodial 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 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 lip 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 tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Liliopsida
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Order: Asparagales
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Family: Orchidaceae
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Genus: Epidendrum
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