Epidendrum serpens is a sympodial pseudobulbous orchid that grows among lichens on trees near the tree line at altitudes of 1.6-3.5 km in Peru and Ecuador, including the states of Azuay and Pichincha.
Description The flattened oblong cylindrical pseudobulbs grow to 2 cm long and bear oneCM Dodson & PM Dodson, Icones Plantarum Tropicarum, Series II, Orchids of Ecuador Plate 0487. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis. 1989 or two to threeH. G. Reichenbach, "Orchides" in Carl Müller, Ed. Walpers Annales Botanices Systematicae VI(1861)346. Berlin. leaves. The short, terminal, racemose inflorescence bears three to seven rather large flowers, up to 2 cm across, colored deep violet (Reichenbach) to wine-red (Dodson & Dodson). The lip is heart-shaped where it diverges from the apex of the column, is bolobate at the apex, bears a low keel down the middle, and is slightly fringed on the edge.
References