Epidendrum fernandoi Edwin Trujillo, A. Rojas-P. & Hágsater, 2025

Epidendrum fernandoi Edwin Trujillo, A. Rojas-P. & Hágsater , sp. nov.

( Figure 2 View FIGURE 2 )

Type:— COLOMBIA. Caquetá: Florencia, vereda Santa Helena, vía Gabinete , 1°46' N- 75°38' W, 890 m, 02 de octubre de 2022, E. Trujillo-T. & F. Hoyos-C., 8123 (holotype: HUAZ!; GoogleMaps isotypes: JBB!) GoogleMaps .

Epidendrum fernandoi is similar to E. rocioae Hágsater & Vásquez (2019: 1752) from which it differs by shorter (11.7 cm vs. 25 cm), the ovate subterete pseudobulbs (vs. cylindrical to ovoid), shorter and narrower leaves (2.9–3.0 × 0.9– 1.0 cm vs. 3.5–5.0 × 1.6–1.9 cm), shorter inflorescence (8 cm vs. 23 cm long.), smaller flowers (6.0 mm vs. 11 mm.), dorsal surface of sepals long pilose (vs. short pilose), dorsal sepal with acuminate apex (vs. apex obtuse-rounded), shorter petals (3.0– 3.2 mm vs. 5 mm), shorter and wider lip (2.9 × 3.8 mm vs. 3.2 × 2.6 mm) pentagonal-rhombic (vs. hexagonal-rhombic), ovary shorter (3.5 mm vs. 10–17 mm). Epidendrum fernandoi is also similar to E. microphyllum Lindl. (1840: 85) , but differs by the apical leaves narrowly elliptic, slightly emarginate apex and asymmetric vs. ápice ovate-oblong acute, serrate, racemose; lip concave, pentagonal-rhombic, wider in the base, apiculate apex, entire margin, bicallose vs. lip subrotund, aristate.

Description:— Epiphytic, sympodial, caespitose herb, 11.7 cm heigh including inflorescence. Roots flexuous, 1– 2 mm in diameter, basal, fleshy, thin. Stem cylindrical, 7 mm in diameter. Pseudobulbs pseudobulbs as narrowly ovoid to subterete, 2.1–2.7 × 0.6–1 cm, erect, narrowly ovate to subterete, simples, basally wrapped by tubular, foliaceous sheaths. Leaves 2.7–1.82 × 0.9– 0.75 cm, apical, suberect, coriaceous, blade narrowly elliptical, apex slightly emarginate and slightly asymmetrical. Inflorescence 8 cm long, first-order branching, peduncle 4.6 cm long, erect, straight, terete, pilose; rachis 1.3 cm long, slender, terete, pilose; with 2–4 flowers in branch. Flowers, 14–20, simultaneous, not resupinate, yellow-brown and purple, distichous, with purplish-yellow sepals, dorsally pilose, lanceolate petals, ochre yellow lip, acuminate. Sepals free, 3-veined, long pilose surface and slightly involute margin; dorsal sepal, 2.9 × 1.4 mm, lanceolate, acuminate apex; lateral sepals falcate ovate-lanceolate, with a slightly involute margin, 3.4–3.6 × 1.4–1.6 mm, partially extended, and apiculate apex. Petals 1-veined, 3.0–3.2 × 0.4–0.5 mm, free, extended, linearlanceolate, entire margin. Lip 2.6 × 3.5 mm, obliquely attached to basal half of column, entire, sagittate base, concave, pentagonal-rhombic, wider at base, apiculate apex, entire margin; bicallose, calli small, thin, prominent (1.25 × 0.47 mm). Ovary 3.5 mm long, terete, slightly slender in middle section, slightly curved, with white trichomes, densely distributed, increasing to the apex, basal surface partially glabrous, yellow-greenish, with dispersed purple maculas; short trichomes, erect-patent to slightly curved. Floral Bract in the base of the ovary, 1.6 × 0.8 mm, lanceolate, apiculate apex, irregular margins. Gynostemium 2.6 × 1.6 mm, forming an angle of 110° with ovary, slightly sigmoid in lateral view, ending with a long, rounded, and wide wing on each side; short clinandrium, entire margin. Clinandrium cordate, margin entire, smooth, concave, (0.68 × 0.64 mm). Pollinia 4, yellow, arranged in pairs, massulae between 0.3–0.4 mm long, ovoid, with a clump-like caudicles of 0.5 mm in length, and a slightly ovoid viscidium 0.1 mm. Anther cap, cordiform, bilobed, symmetrical, 0.72 × 0.6 mm, with a slightly emarginate distal margin, purple, central region with yellowish longitudinal band thickened toward the base, two well-defined lateral lobes, two locules separated by a thin, yellowish central lamina, with locules oblong, purple. Capsule ovoid, green to brown discolor, rugose, 12.1 × 2.8 mm, pedicel 2 mm long, body 5.4 × 2.8 mm, apical neck 2 mm long, perianth persistent 2.7 mm long.

Distribution and ecology:— Epidendrum fernandoi is endemic to Colombia, known only from the cloud forests of the Alto Hacha River at elevations around 900 m elevation, in the rural area of Florencia, Caquetá Department. Flowering was observed in September and October.

Etymology:— The specific epithet honors the biologist and orchid enthusiast Fernando Hoyos-Cardozo, who discovered and cultivated the plant at the Velamazonia Botanic Garden.

Taxonomic discussion:— Epidendrum fernandoi shares morphological affinities with E. rocioae , particularly in its compact habit, coriaceous leaves, and floral structure. However, E. fernandoi is readily distinguished by several diagnostic features: the narrowly ovoid to subterete pseudobulbs (vs. cylindrical to ovoid), and notably shorter and narrower leaves (2.9–3.0 × 0.9–1.0 cm vs. 3.5–5.0 × 1.6–1.9 cm). The inflorescence and flowers are also significantly reduced in size. Notably, the dorsal surface of the sepals is long-pilose (vs. short-pilose in E. rocioae ), and the dorsal sepal has an acuminate apex (vs. obtuse-rounded). The petals and ovary are also consistently shorter, while the lip is pentagonal-rhombic and distinctly wider at the base, as opposed to the hexagonal-rhombic lip in E. rocioae .

In recent years different orchid species has been discovered and described from the area of the municipality of Florencia; Lepanthes florenciana J.S.Moreno & D.Hoyos (2022: 55) , Masdevallia leonor-baeziana O. Perdomo, Edwin Trujillo & Karremans (2023:139), Catasetum caquetense R.A.Calderón-Álvarez & M.Bonilla (2023: 469) , Campylocentrum luzmariae O. Perdomo, R.B.Singer & E.M.Pessoa (2024: 279) , and Epidendrum clinidiodontum E.Santiago, López-Flor., Claros & Hágsater (2024: 279) . In a checklist of the orchid flora of the department of Caquetá were reported more than 400 species, 68 of them in the genus Epidendrum ( Arias et al. 2023) .

Epidendrum fernandoi was collected from a single locality in the Andean cloud forest of Caquetá, a region severely affected by deforestation, fragmentation and land-use change, resulting in ongoing habitat degradation for the species (Armenteras et al. 2011; Gonzáles-Gonzáles et al. 2021). This represents a threat to the survival of this species, as well as to other known and yet undiscovered species that inhabit these forests, which are subject to ongoing transformation ( Parra-Sánchez et al. 2024). The preservation of these ecosystems is essential for maintaining ecological integrity and ensuring the continuity of evolutionary and ecological processes within this Andean Cloud Forest.