Epidendrum subg. Spathium
John Lindley published Epidendrum subg. Spathium of the Orchidaceae. According to Lindley's diagnosis, the E. subg. Spathium is recognizable by is sympodial habit with individual stems being slender and covered by the bases of the distichous leaves, by the lip of the flower being adnate to the column to its apex, and by the inflorescence emerging from at least one spathe, similar to nearly all members of the genus Cattleya as understood in the year 2000. Reichenbach recognized 52 species in this subgenus, of which Kew accepts 48 :E. amplexicaule Lindl. 1853 E. acutissimum Lindl. 1853 E. adenoglossum Lindl. 1841 E. alpicola Rchb.f. & Warsz. Bonplandia2:110. Kew calls this E. alpicola, and accepts it thus. Bonplandia p. 110 says Epidendrum alpicolum.E. anthoceros Linden & Rchb.f. 1854 E. armeniacum Lindl. 1836 E. bivalve Lindl. 1853 E. brachyglossum Lindl. 1844 E. brevivenium Lindl. 1853 E. clowesii Bateman ex Lindl. 1844 E. cnemidophorum Lindl. 1853 E. cornutum Lindl. 1841 E. cristatum Ruiz & Pav. 1793 E. cylindrostachys Rchb.f. & Warsz. 1854 E. discoidale Lindl. 1853E. excisum Lindl. 1844 E. ferrugineum Ruiz & Pav. 1798 E. geminiflorum Kunth 1816 E. glossoceras Rchb.f. & Warsz. 1854 E. harrisoniae Hook. 1833 E. heterodoxum Rchb.f. 1854 E. klotzscheanum Rchb.f. 1850 E. lacustre Lindl. 1853 E. lagotis Rchb.f. 1855 E. longiflorum Kunth 1816, & E. mancum Lindl. 1844 E. megagastrium Lindl. 1853 E. mesomicron Lindl. 1853 E. modestum Rchb.f. & Warsz. 1854 E. ochriodes Lindl. 1853 E. parviflorum Ruiz & Pav. 1798 E. peperomia Rchb.f. 1854 & E. raphidophorum Lindl. 1853 E. ruizianum Steud. 1840 E. sanderi A.D.Hawkes 1957 E. sarcochilum Linden & Rchb.f. 1854 E. sarcodes Lindl. 1853 E. schlimii Rchb.f. 1850 E. scutella Lindl. 1844 E. sinuosum Lindl. 1853 E. tenax Rchb.f. 1854 E. tovarense Rchb.f. 1850 E. ventricosum Lindl. 1841 E. viridibrunneum Rchb.f. 1861 E. xantholeucum Rchb.f. 1850
In 2005, Hágsater & Soto designated the species Epidendrum adenoglossum as the lectotype of Epidendrum subgenus Spathium.