Epidendrum frutex is a high-altitude species of reed-stemmed Epidendrum orchid native to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
E. frutex <small>Rchb.f. (1855)</small> is closely related to E. frigidum <small>Lind. (1855)</small>, growing terrestrially in "open sphagnum uplands". The tall sympodial plants grow from 3/4 to 5 m tall. As is typical of the subgenus E. subg. Epidendrum, the stems are covered from the base with distichous, tubular, leaf-bearing sheaths. The narrow leathery leaves of E. frutex can grow more than 2 dm long. The terminal inflorescence is a distichous (not secund) compound panicle bearing numerous small, fleshy yellow to green to brown flowers. The triangular sepals are no longer than 6 mm. The linear petals are slightly shorter than the sepals. The lip is adnate to the column to its apex, heart-shaped where it diverges from the column, broader than it is long, and not divided into lobes. A linear keel runs down the center of the lip.
This large Epidendrum is notable for producing seed capsules that are more than ten times the size of the flowers.