The species occurs in Florida, Bahamas, West Indies, Belize, Central America to northern Brazil and the Guyanas.

Epidendrum nocturnum is common in South Florida.

The haploid chromosome number of E. nocturnum has been determined as n = 20.

guadeloupense was determined to have a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 42—48.

On November 7, 2010, Kew did not recognize the existence of this variety in its World Checklist of Selected Plant Families.