| Meliorchis Temporal range: Miocene | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Orchidoideae |
| Tribe: | Cranichideae |
| Subtribe: | Goodyerinae |
| Genus: | † Meliorchis S.R.Ramírez, B.Gravendell, R.B.Singer, C.R.Marshall & N.E.Pierce |
| Species: | †M. caribea |
| Binomial name | |
| †Meliorchis caribea S.R.Ramírez, B.Gravendell, R.B.Singer, C.R.Marshall & N.E.Pierce | |
Meliorchis caribea is an extinct, early to middle Miocene orchid known only from a packet of pollen attached to the wing of a stingless bee, Proplebeia dominicana, trapped in Dominican amber. It was the first fossil orchid ever described, and allowed for a revised estimate of the time of origin of the Orchidaceae to the Mesozoic. [1] Morphology of the pollinium suggests that M. caribea is closely related to the modern genus Ligeophila .
