Eulophia

Eulophia
Eulophia euglossa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Orchidaceae
Subfamily:	Epidendroideae
Tribe:	Cymbidieae
Subtribe:	Eulophiinae
Genus:	Eulophia R. Br.
Species
See Species
Synonyms
Cyrtopera Lindl. Hypodematium A. Rich. Lissochilus R. Br. Platypus Small & Nash Semiphajus Gagnep. Thysanochilus Falc.

Eulophia is a genus of approximately 165 species of orchids. It was first described by John Lindley in 1821. The name "Eulophia" was derived from the Greek words "eu" (well) and "lophos" (plume), referring to the crested ridges of the labellum (lip) in most species. This genus is abbreviated Eupha in horticultural trade.

These are usually terrestrial or ground orchids, although some are epiphytes, and rarely, lithophytes. They are distributed in shady rainforests or in open scrub or woodland in the tropics and subtropics of Africa, India,^[1] Asia, Queensland (Australia), and the Americas, although most are found in Africa. Many can survive the dry season through their large bulbous ‘corms’.

Some species, such as Eulophia petersii, have adapted to very arid environments and are among the few orchids to have truly evolved desert living species. In the frost-free, semi-arid areas of Southern California, many Eulophia species, such as E. macra, E. petersii, E. plantaginea, and E. speciosa, can be grown outdoors year-round in well-drained pots with cactus/succulent potting mix (although E. speciosa prefers being grown in pure white sand), as long as they are given ample light through the winter and a drier winter resting period. Warmer growers, such as E. pulchra and possibly even the extremely rare and difficult E. cucullata (the foxglove orchid), can probably be grown outdoors in the warmer areas of Florida and Hawaii, also.

The deciduous or evergreen leaves are usually pleated, with longitudinal veins. They are green and sheathed at the base. But in some species, the leaves may be reduced or have become brown scales. Some are leafless myco-heterotrophs.

The generally large, underground, fleshy rhizome indicates a sympodial growth habit, and this makes Eulophias fairly easy to divide and propagate, provided the grower is gentle.

The inflorescence arises from the base. It grows into a raceme. It is sometimes branched, as in the cases of E. macra and E. petersii. The inflorescences on the species with non-branching spikes can support as many as 50 flowers; but in species with branching inflorescences, up to 150 blooms can occur per spike. While most Eulophia flowers rarely exceed 2" in width, this is often made up for by the sheer abundance of interesting blooms they produce. The sepals and the petals are alike. The lip usually has three lobes. As for most orchids, there are two pollinia for each flower. Eulophias (in bloom) can reach a height of 1.6 m (6 ft.).

Species

Transferred to Orthochilus

After a molecular phylogeny published in 2014 revealed that the genus Eulophia was paraphyletic unless a clade containing Orthochilus was recognized, 34 species and one subspecies were transferred to the resurrected genus Orthochilus, which included many Eulophia and all Pteroglossaspis taxa. This reduced the number of Eulophia species from 201 to 165. The authors also suggested recognizing Oeceoclades pulchra instead of Eulophia pulchra. The taxa formerly recognized in Eulophia include:^[2]

• Orthochilus abyssinicus, formerly Eulophia abyssinica
• Orthochilus aculeatus, formerly Eulophia aculeata
• Orthochilus adenoglossus, formerly Eulophia adenoglossa
• Orthochilus albobrunneus, formerly Eulophia albobrunnea
• Orthochilus aurantiacus, formerly Eulophia aurantiaca
• Orthochilus carsonii, formerly Eulophia carsonii
• Orthochilus chloranthus, formerly Eulophia chlorantha
• Orthochilus clandestinus, formerly Eulophia clandestina
• Orthochilus corymbosus, formerly Eulophia corymbosa
• Orthochilus distans, formerly Eulophia distans
• Orthochilus ecristatus, formerly Eulophia ecristata
• Orthochilus ensatus, formerly Eulophia ensata
• Orthochilus euanthus, formerly Eulophia euantha
• Orthochilus eustachyus, formerly Eulophia eustachya
• Orthochilus foliosus, formerly Eulophia foliosa
• Orthochilus holubii, formerly Eulophia holubii
• Orthochilus leontoglossus, formerly Eulophia leontoglossa
• Orthochilus litoralis, formerly Eulophia litoralis
• Orthochilus mechowii, formerly Eulophia mechowii
• Orthochilus milnei, formerly Eulophia milnei
• Orthochilus montis-elgonis, formerly Eulophia montis-elgonis
• Orthochilus nuttii, formerly Eulophia nuttii
• Orthochilus odontoglossus, formerly Eulophia odontoglossa
• Orthochilus pottsii, formerly Pteroglossaspis pittsii
• Orthochilus rarus, formerly Eulophia rara
• Orthochilus rutenbergianus, formerly Eulophia rutenbergiana
• Orthochilus ruwenzoriensis, formerly Eulophia ruwenzoriensis
• Orthochilus subulatus, formerly Eulophia subulata
• Orthochilus tabularis, formerly Eulophia tabularis
• Orthochilus thomsonii, formerly Eulophia thomsonii
• Orthochilus trilamellatus, formerly Eulophia trilamellata
• Orthochilus vinosus, formerly Eulophia vinosa
• Orthochilus walleri, formerly Eulophia walleri
• Orthochilus welwitschii, formerly Eulophia welwitschii

Hybrids

• Eulophia × burundiensis ( = E. cucullata × E. flavopurpurea) (Burundi)..
• Eulophia × pholelana ( = E. ovalis var. bainesii × E. zeyheriana) (S. Africa)

References

External links

• Dressler, S.; Schmidt, M. & Zizka, G. (2014). [http://www.africanplants.senckenberg.de/root/index.php?submitForm=true&page_id=77&searchTextMenue=Eulophia&filterRegionIDs[]=6&filterRegionIDs[]=1&filterRegionIDs[]=2&filterRegionIDs[]=3&filterRegionIDs[]=5 "Eulophia"]. African plants – a Photo Guide. Frankfurt/Main: Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg. 

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