Trigonidium, abbreviated as Trgdm in horticultural trade, was a formerly accepted genus of orchids comprising roughly twenty species found from Mexico to Brazil. As of 2023 [update] , it was considered a synonym of Maxillaria . [1]
Trigonidium derives from the Greek "trigonon", meaning "triangle", in reference to the triangular shape of the flowers. [2]
The epiphytes and lithophytes formerly placed in the genus have long or short rhizomes. Its pseudobulbs are cylindrical or ovoid with overlapping sheathes at their base and one or two leaves at their apex. The inflorescences of the genus are basal, erect, and single flowered, with the flower usually as long or longer than the leaves. The flowers are tubular at the base with sepals spreading. The sepals are larger than the petals and the petals are larger than the lip. The lip is trilobed and not spurred. [2]
The flowers have shiny pads and eyespots that lure male bees to perform pseudocopulation with the blossoms. [3]
Former species include: [4]
Plants formerly placed in the genus grow well in pots with standard epiphyte mix, in intermediate conditions with light shade and high humidity. Plants should be kept dry but not so dry that pseudobulbs shrivel. [2]
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.
Brassavola is a genus of 21 orchids. They were named in 1813 by the Scottish botanist Robert Brown. The name comes from the Italian nobleman and physician Antonio Musa Brassavola. This genus is abbreviated B. in trade journals.
Cymbidium, commonly known as boat orchids, is a genus of evergreen flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae. Orchids in this genus are epiphytic, lithophytic, terrestrial or rarely leafless saprophytic herbs usually with pseudobulbs. There are usually between three and twelve leaves arranged in two ranks on each pseudobulb or shoot and lasting for several years. From one to a large number of flowers are arranged on an unbranched flowering stem arising from the base of the pseudobulb. The sepals and petals are all free from and similar to each other. The labellum is significantly different from the other petals and the sepals and has three lobes. There are about fifty-five species and sixteen further natural hybrids occurring in the wild from tropical and subtropical Asia to Australia. Cymbidiums are well known in horticulture and many cultivars have been developed. The genome of Cymbidium mannii has been sequenced to study epiphytism and crassulacean acid metabolism.
Oncidium, abbreviated as Onc. in the horticultural trade, is a genus that, as of December 2023, contains about 340 species of orchids from the subtribe Oncidiinae of the orchid family Orchidaceae. It is distributed across tropical and subtropical America from Mexico, Central America and the West Indies to northern Argentina, with one species (O. ensatum) extending into Florida. Common names for plants in this genus include dancing-lady orchid and golden shower orchid.
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.
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.
Maxillaria, abbreviated as Max in the horticultural trade, is a large genus of orchids. This is a diverse genus, with very different morphological forms. Their characteristics can vary widely. They are commonly called spider orchids, flame orchids or tiger orchids. Their scientific name is derived from the Latin word maxilla, meaning jawbone, reflecting on the column and the base of the lip of some species, that may evoke a protruding jaw.
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.
Dendrobium kingianum, commonly known as the pink rock orchid, is a flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It usually grows on rocks, rarely as an epiphyte, and has thin, spreading leaves and spikes of up to fifteen, usually pink flowers in late winter to spring. It is popular in Australian native horticulture and is a commonly cultivated orchid among Australian orchid species growers.
Crepidium, commonly known as 沼兰属 or spur orchids is a genus of about three hundred species of orchids in the family Orchidaceae. Plants in this genus are evergreen, mostly terrestrial plants with short stems lying on the ground, two or more relatively large, pleated leaves and small, non-resupinate flowers with spreading sepals and petals. The genus is widely distributed in the tropics.
Bifrenaria, abbreviated Bif. in horticultural trade, is a genus of plants in family Orchidaceae. It contains 20 species found in Panama, Trinidad and South America. There are no known uses for them, but their abundant, and at first glance artificial, flowers, make them favorites of orchid growers.
Scuticaria is a genus of orchids comprising 9 species native to Belize, Brazil, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. Members of this genus have showy flowers and long cylindrical leaves. They are epiphytic, occasionally lithophytic or terrestrial, that grow pending and are cespitously, or reptant and ascending, which exist is three isolated areas of South America, in Ecuador, Amazon Forest and Serra do Mar and Serra da Mantiqueira mountains, in Brazil, both in shady and sunny places.
Scaphyglottis is a genus of orchids native to Mexico, Central America, northern South America and parts of the Caribbean. The current concept of this genus is the result of combining several genera which have been described at various times. The concept is characterized by the growth habit: not only are new pseudobulbs added at the base of the old ones, but new pseudobulbs also grow at the apices of the old ones. Many species are quite similar and difficult to distinguish, but some are clearly distinct. A few have showy colors. The genus comprises nearly 70 species.
Acriopsis emarginata, commonly known as the pale chandelier orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to Queensland. It is a clump-forming epiphyte with dark green leaves and curved, branching flower stems with many white and cream-coloured flowers.
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.
Miltonia phymatochila, synonym Phymatochilum brasiliense, is an orchid species native to northeast and southeast Brazil. It is an inhabitant of the Serra do Mar mountains. It vegetatively resembles Oncidium species rather than other Miltonia species and was at one time placed as the only species in the genus Phymatochilum.
Psychopsiella is a monotypic genus in the orchid family found only in the state of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and near Caracas in Venezuela. It grows as an epiphyte in evergreen montane forests at elevations of 800 to 1,500 metres.
Maxillaria donaldeedodii, synonym Ornithidium donaldeedodii, is a species of orchid native to Haiti. It was "discovered" in April 2010 when DNA analysis showed that a wrongly labeled orchid at the University of California Botanical Garden in Berkeley, California, was actually a distinct new species. The "new" orchid, which had been mislabeled as Maxillaria croceorubens since the 1990s, was named after orchidologist Donald D. Dod (1912–2008), who collected the specimen in the 1980s in Haiti. The new orchid was officially described in Lankesteriana, an international journal on orchidology, by authors James Ackerman of the University of Puerto Rico and W. Mark Whitten of the Florida Museum of Natural History, as Ornithidium donaldeedodii. It was transferred to Maxillaria in 2011.
Maxillaria subrepens is an orchid found in tropical South America.
Maxillaria obtusa, synonym Trigonidium obtusum, is an orchid native to tropical South America.