Epidendroideae

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Epidendroideae
Epidendrum schomburgkii - 1.jpg
Epidendrum schomburgkii
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Epidendroideae
Kostel.
Tribes

See text

Epidendroideae.png
Synonyms

Vandoideae

Epidendroideae is a subfamily of plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Epidendroideae is larger than all the other orchid subfamilies together, comprising more than 15,000 species in 576 genera. Most epidendroid orchids are tropical epiphytes, typically with pseudobulbs. There are, however, some terrestrials such as Epipactis and even a few myco-heterotrophs, which are parasitic upon mycorrhizal fungi.

Contents

They typically contain the remaining orchids with a single, fertile anther ( = monandrous), which is also fully incumbent ( = strongly convex) to suberect (= ascending towards the edges). The anther form arises from column elongation or, as in the vandoids, from early anther bending. The incumbent anther forms a right angle with the column axis or is pointed backward in many genera. Most have hard pollinia, i.e. a mass of waxy pollen or of coherent pollen grains. The pollinia are with caudicle and viscidium or without. The stigma are entire or three-lobed; a beak is present. The apical part of the middle stigma lobe forms a stipe ( = pollinium stalk). The ovary is unilocular. The leaves are distichous or spiraling, growing on thickened stems.

The Epidendroideae are difficult to classify. They have been divided in “lower epidendroids” and “higher epidendroids”.

Description

Epiphytes are plants which grow above the ground, on top of other plants. They are not planted in the soil and are not parasitic (i.e. they do not feed on other plants; however, some types still damage their host in various ways). By growing on other plants, the epiphytes can reach to the light better or where they can avoid struggling for light. Many mosses and lichens are epiphytes, as are approximately 10 per cent of all seed plants and ferns. Epiphytes are common in some groups of plants, such as ferns, mosses, lichens, and algae. Over half of the 20,000 species of orchids are epiphytes.

Habitat

Most epiphytic seed plants and ferns are found in tropical and subtropical rainforests because they need high humidity to survive. The areas which most epiphytes grow are the montane rainforests. Epiphytic orchids are found on many positions of the host tree, depending on species requirements and size, some large species will grow in a fork, whereas some small species scramble through thin branches, other species will climb up the trunk etc. etc. The trees provide many habitats with different conditions of temperature, contact and light. In temperate places, epiphytes are most common in moist forests, such as the rainforests in Queensland.[ citation needed ]

Adaptation

Epiphytes are not adapted to droughts in the same way are other flora, because they don’t have access to the ground, but they still have some mechanisms to help them survive. Some become completely dormant for months at a time; many epiphytes show crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), which involves taking in CO2 at night, and photo-fixing it during the day with closed stomata to reduce water loss by transpiration. They also contain absorptive plants that are capable at quickly taking up water when it is available and preventing drought when water is scarcer. CAM can be impeded by higher night-time temperatures, dehydrated tissues, and high saturation deficits in the surrounding air, which lower the "stomata conductance" of the epiphytes, reducing the CO2 uptake, which in turn reduces growth and reproduction and even induces carbon loss. Higher temperatures, strain on evaporation, and contact to light cause CAM-idling, which is the epiphyte closing its stomata when it becomes stressed, that brings down the range of habitats a species can inhabit. Epiphyte species work biomasses are much more sensitive to different relative moisture levels than other plants.[ citation needed ]

Tribe classification

The subfamily Epidendroideae is divided into two clades or subgroups known as the higher epidendroids (vandoids) and the lower epidendroids. The lower epidendroids contain polyphyletic tribes, particularly the Arethuseae and Epidendreae. The tribes are listed below:

Epidendreae

Maxillarieae

Vandeae

Collabieae

Podochileae

Calypsoeae

Arethuseae

Dendrobieae

Malaxideae

The tribes of the subfamily Epidendroideae (as of 2014)

Higher epidendroids (vandoids)

Lower epidendroids

This classification has a rather ephemeral nature and is prone to frequent revision. Changes are likely to occur as new morphological and genetic data become available. [1] [2] [3]

The genus Devogelia is not placed in a tribe. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeridinae</span> Subtribe of orchids

In the botanical classification of plants, Aeridinae Pfitzer is a subtribe of the tribe Vandeae whose representatives all have a monopodial growth habit and do not possess pseudobulbs.

<i>Laelia</i> Genus of orchids

Laelia is a small genus of 25 species in the orchid family (Orchidaceae). Laelia species are found in areas of subtropical or temperate climate in Central and South America, but mostly in Mexico. Laelia is abbreviated L. in the horticultural trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taxonomy of the Orchidaceae</span> Classification of orchids

The taxonomy of the Orchidaceae (orchid family) has evolved slowly during the last 250 years, starting with Carl Linnaeus who in 1753 recognized eight genera. De Jussieu recognized the Orchidaceae as a separate family in his Genera Plantarum in 1789. Olof Swartz recognized 25 genera in 1800. Louis Claude Richard provided us in 1817 with the descriptive terminology of the orchids. (See External links below). The next step was taken in 1830-1840 by John Lindley, who recognized four subfamilies. He is generally recognized as the father of orchid taxonomy. The next important step was taken by George Bentham with a new classification, recognizing subtribes for the first time. This classification was first presented in a paper that Bentham read to the Royal Society in 1881. Then it was published in 1883 in the final volume of Genera Plantarum. The next great contributors were Pfitzer (1887), Schlechter (1926), Mansfeld (1937), Dressler and Dodson (1960), Garay (1960, 1972), Vermeulen (1966), again Dressler (1981). and Burns-Balogh and Funk (1986). Dressler's 1993 book had considerable influence on later work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orchidoideae</span> Subfamily of orchids

The Orchidoideae, or the orchidoid orchids, are a subfamily of the orchid family (Orchidaceae) that contains around 3630 species. Species typically have a single (monandrous), fertile anther which is erect and basitonic.

<i>Acrorchis</i> Genus of epiphytes

Acrorchis is a monotypic genus from the orchid family (Orchidaceae), subfamily Epidendroideae, tribe Epidendreae, subtribe Laeliinae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanilloideae</span> Subfamily of orchids

Vanilloideae is one of the subfamilies of orchids belonging to the large family Orchidaceae.

<i>Xerorchis</i> Genus of orchids

Xerorchis is an orchid genus in the subfamily Epidendroideae. It is the sole representative of the tribe Xerorchideae. Xerorchis is only found in South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arethuseae</span> Tribe of orchids

Arethuseae is a mid-sized tribe of orchids in the subfamily Epidendroideae. This tribe was initially categorized by John Lindley in 1840. Its largest subtribes are Arethusinae and Coelogyninae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bletiinae</span> Subtribe of orchids

Bletiinae is a small-sized subtribe of orchids in the tribe Epidendreae of the subfamily Epidendroideae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vandeae</span> Tribe of orchids

The Vandeae is a large monophyletic tribe within the family of orchids.

<i>Cattleya walkeriana</i> Species of orchid

Cattleya walkeriana, or Walker's cattleya, is a species of orchid. It differs from most species of Cattleya by having inflorescences which arise from the rhizome instead of from the apex of the pseudobulb. In its native habitat it grows as either an epiphyte or a lithophyte, sometimes in full sun, at elevations up to 2000 meters. Pseudobulbs are relatively short, bulbous or fusiform, with one or two ovate leaves at the apex. Inflorescence is one- or few-flowered, about 8" (20 cm) tall. Flowers are 4-5" (9-12 cm) across.

<i>Coelogyne flaccida</i> Species of orchid

Coelogyne flaccida is a species of orchid that is native to southeast Asia and northeastern South Asia. Cultivated as an ornamental plant, it is also known as the bearded coelogyne and the loose coelogyne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epidendreae</span> Tribe of orchids

The tribe Epidendreae of the Orchidaceae, within the subfamily Epidendroideae. It includes six subtribes, approximately 120 genera, and over 6,000 species. Popular among orchid collectors, it features well-known genera such as Laelia, Cattleya, and Encyclia, as well as smaller species like Dracula, Dryadella, Masdevallia, and Restrepia.

<i>Microsaccus</i> Genus of orchids

Microsaccus is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It is native to Southeast Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polystachyinae</span> Subtribe of orchids

Polystachyinae is a subtribe within the tribe Vandeae in family Orchidaceae. It consists of 2 genera and about 228 known species. The type genus of this subtribe is Polystachya. The group is pantropical, being native to tropical Africa primarily, but also to tropical America. Members of this group are epiphytic and are distinguished from the other subtribes in the tribe Vandeae by their sympodial growth habit and the presence of four pollinia. Pollination is mostly by small species of bees, however some species exhibit auto-pollination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eriinae</span> Subtribe of orchids

The Eriinae form a subtribe of Podochileae, a tribe of the orchid family (Orchidaceae). The name is derived from the genus Eria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dendrobieae</span> Tribe of orchids

Dendrobieae is a tribe in the subfamily Epidendroideae, in the family Orchidaceae. The Dendrobieae are mostly tropical, epiphytic orchids which contain pseudobulbs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calypsoinae</span> Subtribe of orchids

Calypsoinae is an orchid subtribe in the tribe Epidendreae of subfamily Epidendroideae. It has previously been recognized as tribe Calypsoeae in the subfamily Epidendroideae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neottieae</span> Tribe of orchids

Neottieae is an orchid tribe in the subfamily Epidendroideae. It contains six genera and over 200 species distributed mainly in temperate and subtropical zones of the northern hemisphere. All its members are terrestrial plants, hinting at an early branching with Epidendroideae which is largely an epiphytic group. Neottieae is likely to be the result of a single temperate radiation of epidendroids, although it appears that some lineages in this tribe have crept back into the tropics.

<i>Trachoma</i> (plant) Genus of orchids

Trachoma, commonly known as spectral orchids, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orchidaceae. Orchids in this genus are epiphytic plants with leafy stems, crowded, leathery leaves arranged in two ranks and a large number of relatively small, short-lived flowers that often open in successive clusters. The sepals and petals are free from and more or less similar to each other, except that the petals are often smaller. The labellum is rigidly fixed to the column and is more or less sac-shaped. There are about 17 species distributed from Assam to the Western Pacific Ocean. Most species grow in rainforests, often on emergent trees such as hoop pine.

References

  1. Cameron, Kenneth M. et al. American Journal of Botany. 1999. (86):p. 208–224. "A phylogenetic analysis of the Orchidaceae: evidence from rbcL nucleotide sequences".
  2. A diagram showing higher and lower epidendroids and their phylogenetic relationships
  3. John V. Freudenstein, Mark W. Chase. Annals of Botany. 2015. (115):p. s 665–681. Phylogenetic relationships in Epidendroideae (Orchidaceae), one of the great flowering plant radiations: progressive specialization and diversification. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcu253
  4. Chase, Mark W.; Cameron, Kenneth M.; Freudenstein, John V.; Pridgeon, Alec M.; Salazar, Gerardo; van den Berg, Cássio; Schuiteman, André (2015). "An updated classification of Orchidaceae". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 177 (2): 151–174. doi: 10.1111/boj.12234 . ISSN   0024-4074. Incertae sedis (in Epidendroideae) Devogelia* Schuit. (1).