Meliorchis

Dominican Republic

Meliorchis caribea is a fossil species from the orchid family ( Orchidaceae). From its just a Fund is known, namely a Pollinarium, which was included on a bee in amber.

The Pollinarium consists of two club-shaped pollinia, each again in about 100 pollen packets ( Massulae ) are divided. Each of these packages consists of glued pollen tetrads. The entire pollinium measures about 1000 × 500 microns, the individual pollen packets about 200 × 100 microns, a tetrad measures 20 × 20 microns.

The details of the pollinia in favor of a relationship of fossil orchid with the subtribe Goodyerinae. Similarly structured pollinia are found in Kreodanthus and Microchilus. While living today representatives of this group, the pollinia are usually attached in the area of the head or mouthparts of the pollinator, the pollinia of Meliorchis caribea on the back, the Mesoscutellum, a bee the type Proplebeia dominicana are glued. Thus, the pollinium got there, the bee must be crept in the orchid flower, under the column, below the stamen through. The bloom of Meliorchis caribea is therefore likely to have a exhibited in relation to present-day relatives large, curved column.

The age of the fossil orchid is estimated according to the age of Dominican amber at 15 to 20 million years. This is the first fossil that can be assigned unambiguously to the family of orchids. The fossil was used by the discoverers to estimate with him as a fixed point the age of the entire family.

The genus name refers to the Meliorchis Meliponini, the scientific name of the stingless bees, which is one of the pollinators of Meliorchis. The species name refers to the locality caribea in the Caribbean.

Documents

• Santiago R. Ramírez, Barbara Gravendeel, Rodrigo B. Singer, Charles R. Marshall & Naomi E. Pierce: Dating the origin of the Orchidaceae from a fossil orchid with its pollinator. In: Nature. 448, 2007, pp. 1042-1045, doi: 10.1038/nature06039.

• Orchids
• Orchidaceae
• Extinct plant