Brassia

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Spider orchid
Brassia arcuigera.jpg
Brassia arcuigera
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Epidendroideae
Tribe: Cymbidieae
Subtribe: Oncidiinae
Genus: Brassia
R.Br. [1]
Type species
Brassia maculata
Synonyms [1]
  • AdaLindl.
  • BrachtiaRchb.f.
  • BrassiopsisSzlach. & Górniak
  • MesospinidiumRchb.f.
  • OncodiaLindl.

Brassia is a genus of orchids classified in the subtribe Oncidiinae. It is native to Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and northern South America, with one species (B. caudata) extending into Florida. [1] [2]

Contents

The genus was named after William Brass, a British botanist and illustrator, who collected plants in Africa under the supervision of Sir Joseph Banks. Its abbreviation in the horticultural trade is Brs. [3]

Description

Brassia species and its popular hybrids are common in cultivation, and are notable for the characteristic long and spreading tepals (in some clones longer than 50 cm), which lend them the common name spider orchid. The grex Eternal Wind is a recipient of the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [4]

This epiphytic genus occurs in wet forests from sea level to altitudes under 1500 m, with the Peruvian Andes as its center of diversity. Occurrence is mostly restricted to a certain area, but Brassia caudata can be found over the whole geographic area.

They have large elliptic-oblong pseudobulbs with one or two leaves at the apex, lateral, unbranched many-flowered inflorescences with small floral bracts. The lip is not attached to the column. The pollinarium shows a narrow stipe. There are two distichous, foliaceous sheaths around the base, from which the inflorescence emerges.

Brassia has a very specific method for pollination; it uses entomophily - pollination by insects - and in this case specifically by female spider-hunter wasps of the genera Pepsis and Campsomeris . Mistaken by the mimicry of Brassia, the wasp stings the lip, while trying to grasp its prey without any success. By these movements the wasp comes into contact with the pollinarium, that then sticks to its head. By flying to another Brassia flower, this flower gets pollinated.

List of species

As of August 2023, Plants of the World Online accepted the following species: [1]

Intergeneric hybrids

This list does not include nothogenera based on genera that are synonyms of Oncidium , as for instance Cochlioda and Odontoglossum. These nothogenera are now synonyms with other nothogenera in this list, or with Brassia (in the case of Brassioda = Brassia × Cochlioda).

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<i>Warczewiczella</i> Genus of orchids

Warczewiczella is a genus of orchids native to South America, Central America, and Cuba.

  1. Warczewiczella amazonicaRchb.f. & Warsz. - Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil
  2. Warczewiczella candida(Lindl.) Rchb.f. - Brazil
  3. Warczewiczella discolor(Lindl.) Rchb.f. - Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Cuba, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama
  4. Warczewiczella guianensis(Lafontaine, G.Gerlach & Senghas) Dressler - Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana
  5. Warczewiczella ionoleuca(Rchb.f.) Schltr. - Colombia, Ecuador
  6. Warczewiczella lipscombiae(Rolfe) Fowlie - Panama
  7. Warczewiczella lobata(Garay) Dressler - Colombia
  8. Warczewiczella marginataRchb.f. - Panama, Colombia, Venezuela
  9. Warczewiczella palatina(Senghas) Dressler - Peru, Bolivia
  10. Warczewiczella timbiensisP.Ortiz - Colombia
  11. Warczewiczella wailesiana(Lindl.) E.Morren - Brazil
<i>Chondroscaphe</i> Genus of orchids

Chondroscaphe is a genus of orchids native to southeastern Central America and northwestern South America.

  1. Chondroscaphe amabilis(Schltr.) Senghas & G.Gerlach in F.R.R.Schlechter - Ecuador, Colombia
  2. Chondroscaphe atrilinguisDressler - Costa Rica, Panama
  3. Chondroscaphe bicolor(Rolfe) Dressler - Costa Rica, Panama
  4. Chondroscaphe chestertonii(Rchb.f.) Senghas & G.Gerlach in F.R.R.Schlechter - Ecuador, Colombia
  5. Chondroscaphe dabeibaensisP.A.Harding - Colombia
  6. Chondroscaphe eburnea(Dressler) Dressler - Panama
  7. Chondroscaphe embreei(Dodson & Neudecker) Rungius - Ecuador, Colombia
  8. Chondroscaphe escobariana(Dodson & Neudecker) Rungius - Colombia
  9. Chondroscaphe flaveola(Linden & Rchb.f.) Senghas & G.Gerlach in F.R.R.Schlechter - Colombia, Venezuela, Peru
  10. Chondroscaphe gentryi(Dodson & Neudecker) Rungius - Ecuador
  11. Chondroscaphe merana(Dodson & Neudecker) Dressler - Ecuador
  12. Chondroscaphe plicata(D.E.Benn. & Christenson) Dressler - Peru
  13. Chondroscaphe venezuelanaPupulin & Dressler - Venezuela
  14. Chondroscaphe yamilethaePupulin - Costa Rica

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Brassia R.Br." Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  2. ↑ Flora of North America v 26 p 646, Brassia caudata
  3. ↑ "My Huge List of Orchid Abbreviations". orchidsplus.com. 13 June 2014.
  4. ↑ "Brassia Eternal Wind gx". RHS. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  5. ↑ page 20 of http://www.cites.org/common/cop/13/E13-P41Annex.pdf Archived 2010-06-16 at the Wayback Machine

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