Anguloa

Tulip orchids
Anguloa clowesii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Epidendroideae
Tribe: Maxillarieae
Subtribe: Lycastinae
Genus: Anguloa
Ruíz & Pav.
Type species
Anguloa uniflora
Ruíz & Pav.
Species

see text

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 Peru.

This genus is found on the forest floor at high elevations from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru.[1][2]

Description

A horticultural hybrid Anguloa with green flowers

Tulip orchids are rather large terrestrial and sometimes epiphytic plants with fleshy pseudobulbs longer than 20 cm. The long, lanceolate and plicate leaves of a full-grown Anguloa can be more than 1 m long. Two to four leaves grow from the base of each pseudobulb. The leaves are deciduous, and are shed at the start of each new growth.

The flowers of these orchids have a strong scent of cinnamon. They are of waxy appearance and are (in wild species) either of two colors, depending on the species – greenish white, or yellow to red. A single flower per inflorescence arises from the base of each new pseudobulb. The white tulip orchids have six inflorescences per pseudobulb, the other can produce up to twelve inflorescences. The sepals have a bulbous shape, resembling a tulip; hence the common name. The lip is three-lobed. The column has four pollinia.

Species

There are 13 species of tulip orchids, including 4 apparently of hybrid origin though established in the wild. Other hybrid tulip orchids are bred by horticulturalists, but do not occur in the wild. The following are currently accepted as of May 2014:[1]

  1. Anguloa × acostae Oakeley - Colombia (A. eburnea × A. hohenlohii)
  2. Anguloa brevilabris Rolfe - Colombia, Peru
  3. Anguloa cliftonii J.G.Fowler - Colombia
  4. Anguloa clowesii Lindl. - Venezuela and Colombia
  5. Anguloa dubia Rchb.f. - Colombia and possibly Venezuela
  6. Anguloa eburnea Linden ex B.S.Williams - Colombia, Peru, Ecuador
  7. Anguloa hohenlohii C.Morren
    1. Anguloa hohenlohii var. hohenlohii - Venezuela and Colombia
    2. Anguloa hohenlohii var. macroglossa (Schltr.) Oakeley - Colombia
  8. Anguloa × rolfei Sander ex Rolfe - Colombia (A. brevilabris × A. cliftonii)
  9. Anguloa × ruckeri Lindl. - Colombia, Venezuela, Peru (A. clowesii × A. hohenlohii)
  10. Anguloa × speciosa Linden - Venezuela, Colombia (A. tognettiae × A. virginalis)
  11. Anguloa tognettiae Oakeley - Venezuela and Colombia
  12. Anguloa uniflora Ruiz & Pav. - Peru
  13. Anguloa virginalis Linden ex B.S.Williams
    1. Anguloa virginalis var. turneri (B.S.Williams) Oakeley - Colombia
    2. Anguloa virginalis var. virginalis - Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia

References

  1. 1 2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. ↑ Oakeley, Henry F. (1999) Anguloa: The species, the hybrids and a checklist of Angulocastes. Orchid Digest 63(4: Supplement) 1–32. Online version

External links

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