Lycaste | |
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Lycaste skinneri | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Orchidaceae |
Subfamily: | Epidendroideae |
Tribe: | Cymbidieae |
Subtribe: | Maxillariinae |
Genus: | Lycaste Lindl., 1843 |
Species | |
See text | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Lycaste, abbreviated as Lyc. in horticultural trade, is a genus of orchids that contains about 30 species with egg-shaped pseudobulbs and thin, plicate (pleated) leaves.
Lycaste flowers, like all orchid blooms, have three petals and three sepals. The petals are typically yellow, white, or orange, and the sepals are yellow, orange, green, or reddish brown. The petals and sepals may be marked sparsely or densely with red, reddish purple, purple, or reddish brown spots. The lip (ventral petal) may be very similar to the other two petals, as in Lycaste aromatica or Lycaste brevispatha , or colored quite distinctively, as in several subspecies and varieties of Lycaste macrophylla . Most Lycaste flowers are medium in size, averaging about 5 to 10 cm, but Lycaste schilleriana is 16–18 cm across. Some Lycaste blooms have a unique fragrance - the scent of Lycaste aromatica has been variously described as cinnamon or clove. The blooms of the species Lycaste cochleata , Lycaste consobrina , and Lycaste cruenta also have a pleasant scent.
The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, is recognized by the American Orchid Society as the definitive authority on orchid taxonomy. The Checklist currently acknowledges 31 species of Lycaste, 3 natural hybrids, 2 subspecies (and 1 nominate subspecies), and 1 variety. Orchid growers and orchid collectors, who tend to be taxonomic splitters more often than lumpers, recognize additional subspecies and varieties of Lycaste, as well as alba (white) forms of several species.
The Lycastes are divided into four sections and two subsections:
All but two of the Deciduosae have spines at the apices of their pseudobulbs, that become exposed when the leaves are dropped. The exceptions are the Xanthanthae species Lycaste lasioglossa and the Paradeciduosae species Lycaste tricolor . Both of these species lack spines, and may bloom when leaves are still present.
Xanthanthae
Paradeciduosae
Macrophyllae
Fimbriatae
Natural hybrids
Hybrids
A 2002 revision of the Lycaste genus moved many species of the section Fimbriatae to a new genus, Ida . The 34 species of Ida occur in South America and the Caribbean Islands (Ida barringtoniae), while true Lycastes occur mostly in Mexico and Central America. The genus Ida is recognized by the World Checklist of Monocotyledons.
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae, a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant.
Bulbophyllum is a genus of mostly epiphytic and lithophytic orchids in the family Orchidaceae. It is the largest genus in the orchid family and one of the largest genera of flowering plants with more than 2,000 species, exceeded in number only by Astragalus. These orchids are found in diverse habitats throughout most of the warmer parts of the world including Africa, southern Asia, Latin America, the West Indies, and various islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Orchids in this genus have thread-like or fibrous roots that creep over the surface of trees or rocks or hang from branches. The stem is divided into a rhizome and a pseudobulb, a feature that distinguished this genus from Dendrobium. There is usually only a single leaf at the top of the pseudobulb and from one to many flowers are arranged along an unbranched flowering stem that arises from the base of the pseudobulb. Several attempts have been made to separate Bulbophyllum into smaller genera, but most have not been accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families.
Masdevallia, abbreviated Masd in horticultural trade, is a large genus of flowering plants of the Pleurothallidinae, a subtribe of the orchid family (Orchidaceae). There are over 500 species, grouped into several subgenera. The genus is named for Jose Masdevall (?-1801), a physician and botanist in the court of Charles III of Spain.
Gongora, abbreviated Gga in horticultural trade, is a member of the orchid family (Orchidaceae). It consists of 65 species known from Central America, Trinidad, and tropical South America, with most species found in Colombia. They grow across a wide geographical range, from wet forests at sea level, to mountainous regions in the Andes, as high as 1,800 m.
Anguloa, commonly known as tulip orchids, is a small orchid genus closely related to Lycaste. Its abbreviation in horticulture is Ang. This genus was described by José Antonio Pavón and Hipólito Ruiz López in 1798. They named it in honor of Francisco de Angulo, Director-General of Mines of Spain.
Miltonia, abbreviated Milt. in the horticultural trade, is an orchid genus comprising twelve epiphyte species and eight natural hybrids. The miltonias are exclusively inhabitants of Brazil, except for one species whose range extends from Brazil into the northeast of Argentina and the east of Paraguay.
Orchis mascula, the early-purple orchid, early spring orchis, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family, Orchidaceae.
Lycaste cruenta is a plant belonging to the orchid genus Lycaste and native to Central America.
Dactylorhiza incarnata, the early marsh-orchid, is a perennial, temperate-climate species of orchid generally found growing in wet meadows, and generally on base-rich soils, up to about 2100m asl. The species occurs widely in Europe and Asia from Portugal and Ireland east to Siberia and Xinjiang.
Caladenia flava, commonly known as cowslip orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a relatively common orchid with a single, hairy leaf and up to three yellow flowers which often have red markings. In 2001 three subspecies were named and a fourth is recognised but not as yet formally described.
Psychopsis is a genus of four known species of orchids native to northern South America, Central America and Trinidad. The genus name is abbreviated Pyp. in the horticultural trade.
Lycaste aromatica, common name the sweet scented lycaste, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Lycaste of the family Orchidaceae.
Dendrobium discolor, commonly known as antler orchid or golden orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid in the family Orchidaceae, and are native to northern Australia, New Guinea, and part of Indonesia. It has cylindrical pseudobulbs, each with between ten and thirty five leathery leaves, and flowering stems with up to forty mostly brownish or greenish flowers with wavy and twisted sepals and petals.
Dendrobium tetragonum, commonly known as the tree spider orchid, is a variable species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid endemic to eastern Australia. Tree spider orchids are unusual in having pendulous pseudobulbs that are thin and wiry near the base then expand into a fleshy, four-sided upper section before tapering at the tip. There are only a few thin but leathery leaves at the end of the pseudobulbs and up to five flowers on relatively short flowering stems. To allow for the variations in the species there are five subspecies and a variety, some with a unique common name.
Bulbophyllum weinthalii, commonly known as the wax orchid, is a species of epiphytic orchid that forms dense clumps on hoop pine. It has crowded pseudobulbs each with a single thin, leathery, dark green leaf and a single white, green or cream-coloured flower with red or purplish markings. It occurs from south-eastern Queensland to Dorrigo National Park in New South Wales.
Sudamerlycaste is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orchidaceae. It consists of approximately 45 species. The genus was split off from Lycaste in 2002 by Fredy Archila.
Paeonia daurica is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the peony family. It has slender carrot-shaped roots, leaves mostly consisting of nine leaflets, with one flower per stem. The flower is subtended by none to two leafy bracts, and has two or three sepals, five to eight petals, and many stamens. The subspecies vary in the colour of the petals, the size and shape of the leaflets, and the hairiness of the leaflets and the carpels. Paeonia daurica can be found from the Balkans to Iran, and the Crimea to Lebanon, with the centre of its distribution in the Caucasus. It is also cultivated as an ornamental.
Encyclia candollei is a species of epiphytic orchid of yellow-brown to reddish flowers, native to Belize, Guatemala and Mexico.
Arthrochilus huntianus, commonly known as common elbow orchid, is a flowering plant in the orchid family (Orchidaceae) and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has no leaves but an insect-like flower which has its labellum dangling like a lure away from the rest of the flower. Because of its thin, wiry stem and small, dull-coloured flowers, this orchid is difficult to locate. Like others in the genus, the flowers are pollinated by a species of thynnid wasp. Some authorities use the name Thynninorchis huntiana for this orchid.
Xylonagra arborea is a flowering plant endemic to the western side of the Baja California Peninsula. It is a bushy shrub distinguished by showy, scarlet flowers that are attractive to hummingbirds. It is the sole species in the genus Xylonagra, which belongs to the family Onagraceae.