In 1864, August Grisebach published a description of the species Epidendrum compressum ("compressed upon a tree"), the binomial now accepted by Kew.

By placing "Epidendrum Laxum" in Amphiglotium, Reichenbach was stating that the base (at least) of the inflorescence was covered by thin, imbricate sheaths.

Dodson and Bennett[8] describe an E. compressum from Pasco, Peru, and state that the perianth segments as brown, the lip darker than the rest.

The illustration in Dodson and Bennett shows a single stem, ~ 0.5 dm tall, bearing seven leaves and terminating in a two-flowered inflorescence of the same length.

The inflorescence in the illustration carries some spathes, but emerges naked from the leaf-bearing part of the stem, and is not covered by imbricate sheaths.