Sertifera
The genus Sertifera from the orchid family (Orchidaceae) is distributed with eight species in South America. There are plants of the high altitudes of the Andes.
Description
Sertifera includes perennial plants that grow terrestrially. The fleshy roots are hairy. The thin rung Horstig are close together, they are leafy upright and double-spaced. The leaves are sessile, the base of the leaf sheath comprises, as long tight the stem. The leaf blade is crinkled along the numerous veins ( Plikat ).
The inflorescences are in the leaf axils, the laterally compressed peduncle is shorter or at most as long as the appropriate sheet. The flowers are almost like little head pushed together or arranged einseitswendig. The peduncle is short, the flowers are round and not wide open, their color ranges from pink to purple. The sepals and petals are formed about the same: concave with outwardly curved tip. The inner petals are slightly narrower. All petals are free. The lip is rather thin texture and includes the column has a three-dimensional shape and can not be spread flat. At the base it is flared baggy, the leaf blade is provided with a transverse plate-like bar that holds together the edges and the lip is divided into two consecutive chambers. Intermediate lip and column, only a narrow slit left open. The column is slender oblong, hairy, cylindrical in cross-section, front winged laterally. The stamen contains eight pollinia in two separate counters. The pollinia are approximately pear-shaped, four hanging on a roundish viscid disc ( Viscidium ). The stamen is hood -like tissue of the column ( Klinandrium ) surrounded. The scar is bean-shaped bilobed and is transverse to the column axis. The separation layers between stamen and stigma ( rostellum ) is bilobed.
Dissemination
Sertifera growing in the Andes of South America, especially in Colombia and Ecuador. Sertifera virgata is more widespread and also occurs in Venezuela, Peru and Brazil. Sertifera comes at altitudes before 2000-3200 meters. The species growing in low woods and thickets, and in the Páramo.
System
The genus Sertifera together with Elleanthus and Sobralia the tribe Sobralieae. Within the subfamily Epidendroideae, this tribe a basal line dar. From Elleanthus to Sertifera differs mainly by the lateral inflorescences and the differently shaped lip.
John Lindley described the genus in 1876. Sertifera type species is purpurea. The genus name Sertifera is composed of the Latin Sertum, " wreath ", and ferre, "to carry".
In the genus Sertifera one distinguishes eight types:
- Sertifera aurantiaca C.Schweinf
- Sertifera colombiana Schltr.
- Sertifera grandifolia L.O.Williams
- Sertifera lehmanniana ( Kraenzl. ) Garay
- Sertifera major Schltr.
- Sertifera parviflora Schltr.
- Sertifera purpurea Rchb.f.
- Sertifera virgata Rchb.f.