Orchidarc’s digial herbarium

Our contribution to the botanical knowledge of Mexico takes from of new composite dissection plates of Mexican species. Digitalizing orchid knowledge is at the front of our mission to educate more people and having more resources available to researchers. We hope that our digital herbarium will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in the field.

Leochilus oncidioides

Living as a tiwg epipyte can have many advantages. Species from the genus Leochilus have adapted to a fast life cycle where they will germinate, grow, flower and sometimes grow keikis (clones on the flowering spike). Before the a tree’s twig falls. This remarkable adaptation has allowed these species to cope reasonably well with urban development and introduction of ornamental species such as pines. Tree pruning poses a significant challenge for twig epiphytes as outer branches (their habitat) is removed before they can produce mature seed.

Acineta barkeri

Much has been said about Acineta barkeri in this website, but let’s have a deep dive into the flowers. Acineta comes from the greek kinetos meaning mobile, implying a lack of mobility in the labellum. This however, is not entirely true. While not articluated as in Pleurothallidine, the pollination process of Acineta barkeri requires the labeellum to move downwards to accomodate the pollinator. Euglossine bees from the genus Eulaema can successfully move the labellum but they have difficulty in squeezing through the labellum’s lateral immobile walls. The complex labellum is maculate or spotted as are the petals in their innermost section. The spot pattern combined with higher scent producing glands at the back of the flower persuade the bee to try and go as deeply as possible. Only a Euglossine bee large enough to move the labellum down, but small enough to fit within the lateral walls can successfully pollinate the flower. That is considering the viscidium is at the right temperature of 25+C.

Mormodes maculata var. unicolor

Maculata means spotted, quite the opposite of the flowers from this species. This is a striking regional variety where the very character upon which the plant is named is abscent. This variety is classiffied as endangered due to its relatively small distribution (central Veracruz), habitat destruction and illegal trade. It is a texbook case of a large infloresence that can be seen from far away, making it an easy target for poachers. Fortunately, this also means that pollinators have an easy time finding the species, allowing it to form multiple seed pods per infloresence, the flowers emit a sweet powerful fragrance that make this an all around wonderful orchid. For its conservation, we have noticed that this species is able to reclaim some of its lost habitat by germinating on rotting logs from pine plantations. The Catasetinae are well known for thrivng on rotting wood and the fungi that consume it, given the extra amount of nutrition the plants have access to, their life cycles are much faster than in other orchids.

Cypripedium molle

The mesoamerican Cypripedium are an enigmatic bunch. Over 10 species have been historically described but most authorities recognize only three. C. molle, C. dickinsonianum and C. irapeanum. The plate on the left depicts a plant that is most likely C. molle. While the entire description and reasoning could take several pages, the main aspects are the more rounded flowers, compact staminode and shorter plants with multiple stems. These cypripedium are known to be impossible to grow outside of their habitat, a challenge we are willing to take on.