Oeceoclades flavescens

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Oeceoclades flavescens
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Epidendroideae
Tribe: Cymbidieae
Subtribe: Eulophiinae
Genus: Oeceoclades
Species:O. flavescens
Binomial name
Oeceoclades flavescens
Bosser & Morat

Oeceoclades flavescens is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus Oeceoclades that is endemic to northeastern Madagascar. [1] It was first described by the French botanists Jean Marie Bosser and Philippe Morat in 2001. The type specimen was collected in 1954 from the wet undergrowth of a coastal forest near Maroantsetra; it is the only known collection of this species. The specific epithet flavescens refers to the pale yellow flowers. [2]

<i>Oeceoclades</i> genus of plants

Oeceoclades, collectively known as the monk orchids, is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It is related to Eulophia and like that genus is mostly terrestrial in habit. A few species extend into very arid environments, unusual for an orchid.

Endemism Ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location or habitat

Endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution. An alternative term for a species that is endemic is precinctive, which applies to species that are restricted to a defined geographical area.

Madagascar island nation off the coast of Southeast Africa, in the Indian Ocean

Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, and previously known as the Malagasy Republic, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately 400 kilometres off the coast of East Africa. The nation comprises the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from the Indian subcontinent around 88 million years ago, allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation. Consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot; over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. The island's diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by the encroachment of the rapidly growing human population and other environmental threats.

Description

The conical pseudobulbs are 1.5–3 centimetres (0.59–1.18 in) high and heteroblastic (derived from a single internode). The oblong to narrowly lanceolate leaves are 15–22 cm (5.9–8.7 in) long by 2–3 cm (0.79–1.18 in) wide, taper to a point, and have three to five primary longitudinal veins. There is a single papery leaf on each pseudobulb with a 10–12 cm (3.9–4.7 in) long petiole with a joint about 6 cm (2.4 in) below the leaf blade. Inflorescences are 40–45 cm (16–18 in) long, of which 30–32 cm (12–13 in) of that length is the peduncle. The inflorescence is a simple raceme with only 10 to 12 pale yellow flowers with purple streaks on the labellum. The sepals are 9–10 mm (0.35–0.39 in) long by 2–2.5 mm (0.079–0.098 in) wide and petals are 8–9 mm (0.31–0.35 in) long by 3 mm (0.12 in) wide. The four lobes of the labellum are rounded and the spur is forward-projecting. [2]

Pseudobulb

The pseudobulb is a storage organ found in many epiphytic and terrestrial sympodial orchids. It is derived from a thickening of the part of a stem between leaf nodes and may be composed of just one internode or several, termed heteroblastic and homoblastic respectively. All leaves and inflorescences usually arise from this structure. Pseudobulbs formed from a single internode produce the leaves and inflorescence from the top, while those that are formed from several internodes can possess leaves along its length. The modified sheath leaves that appear at the base of a pseudobulb and often enfold all or part of it are usually dry and papery, though in some orchids the sheaths bear leaf blades and the leaves at the pseudobulb's apex are reduced to scales.

Petiole (botany)

In botany, the petiole is the stalk that attaches the leaf blade to the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole in some species are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile or epetiolate.

Inflorescence Term used in botany to describe a cluster of flowers

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed. The modifications can involve the length and the nature of the internodes and the phyllotaxis, as well as variations in the proportions, compressions, swellings, adnations, connations and reduction of main and secondary axes. Inflorescence can also be defined as the reproductive portion of a plant that bears a cluster of flowers in a specific pattern.

Oeceoclades flavescens is similar to O. pulchra but it is very distinctive in the papery leaves and the morphology of the labellum. [2]

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