Acanthephippium

Acanthephippium javanicum, illustration.

Acanthephippium is a genus of the orchid family ( Orchidaceae). The twelve species are widely found in Southeast Asia.

Description

The species of this genus form tightly side by side shoots, each with limited growth. The thick roots are surrounded by a velamen, which is seven to 13 cell layers thick. The shoot axis is thickened to form cylindrical pseudobulbs. These consist of several internodes and wear at the top of three to four true leaves. The petioles form a false stem for several inches above the shoot. The leaves are oblong - oval, thin and along the numerous prominent leaf veins folded.

The upright inflorescence appears laterally from the base of the stem axis. He is already fully developed when the leaves bearing shoot straight show at all. The inflorescence is racemose and only a few inches long. The resupinierten flowers are urn -shaped, the three sepals form a substantially closed form. Here, the upper sepal is free, while the two lateral are fused at their base with the column and form a sac (mentum ). The lateral petals are free, much narrower than the outer petals and almost completely hidden within the flower. The lip is three-lobed, the side lobes are beaten up, the middle lobe is bent downward. The lip is hidden until the middle lobe within the petals. At the center of the lip there is an existing of several keels callus. At the base of the lip is fixed and very narrow to move on the column. The column itself is extended at its base to a " pedestal " on which attaches the lip and forms a protuberance with the sepals. Towards the peak, the column is winged, the stamen contains eight pollinia.

Until the ripening of the fruit capsule, the flower stems stretch. The cigar-shaped capsules stand upright.

Dissemination

The species of the genus are Acanthephippium Indochina spread from the southern edge of the Himalayas over southern China, to Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji and New Caledonia. A disjoint -lying area located in southern India and Sri Lanka.

They grow in the shade getting wetter forests on well-supplied with nutrients and water locations. They are found at altitudes 400-1400 m.

System

Within the subfamily Epidendroideae was the genus Acanthephippium by Dressler in the tribe Arethuseae and filed there in the subtribe Bletiinae. However, recent studies found a closer relationship with genres such as Calanthe and Phaius. This group of genera can be summed up in the tribe Collabieae.

The name was published by flower Acanthophippium what is however regarded as a clerical error. Type species is Acanthephippium javanicum.

The following types are known:

• Acanthephippium bicolor Lindl., Southern tip of India, Sri Lanka, New Guinea.
• Acanthephippium chrysoglossum Schltr. , Sumatra.
• Acanthephippium curtisii Rchb.f., Borneo.
• Acanthephippium eburneum Kraenzl. , Sumatra and Borneo.
• Acanthephippium gougahensis ( Guillaumin ) Seidenf. , Thailand and Vietnam.
• Acanthephippium javanicum flower, Malaysia, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, New Guinea.
• Acanthephippium lilacinum J. J. Wood & C. L. Chan C. L. Chan. & Al., Borneo.
• Acanthephippium mantinianum L. Linden & Cogn. , Philippines.
• Acanthephippium parviflorum Hassk. , Vietnam, Sumatra and Java.
• Acanthephippium splendidum J.J.Sm., Sulawesi and on islands to New Guinea.
• Acanthephippium striatum Lindl. Widespread from the Himalayas to Java.
• Acanthephippium sylhetense Lindl. Widespread of Sikkim to the Philippines. syn. Acanthephippium pictum Fukuy. , Ryukyu Islands to Taiwan.

Documents

• Jim B. Comber (1990 ): Orchids of Java. Pp. 89f. Bentham - Moxon Trust, RBG Kew. ISBN 0-947643-21-4
• Alec M. Pridgeon, Phillip Cribb, Mark W. Chase: Genera Orchidacearum. Vol 4/1: Epidendroidae ( Part one ). Oxford University Press, 2005. Pp. 117-120. ISBN 0-19-850712-7