Jan 23 2025
Prosthechea is a large tropcial American genus of 125 known species, occuring from Florida in the US to southern Brazil. It is most species rich in Mexico, with 36% of its species occuring within the country. One of the most familiar species, the clam-shell orchid Prosthechea cochleata, is found across Florida, the Caribbean, and Central America. Due to wide variety of flower shapes displayed by different Prosthechea species, botanists have only recently understood the full diversity of this genus; previously Prosthechea species were included in other orchid genera such as Epidendrum and Encyclia. Many species of Prosthechea have thickened pseudobulbs (Greek for "false bulbs") on their stems. These pseudobulbs help to store water and carbohydrates, allowing Prosthechea to live in dry habitats where water may be scarce for several months at a time.
Literature Cited
Santos-Escamilla, M.H., G. Cruz-Lustre, M. Cuéllar-Martínez, L. Lagunez-Rivera, and R. Solano. 2024. Variation in the Floral Morphology of Prosthechea karwinskii (Orchidaceae), a Mexican Endemic Orchid at Risk. Plants (Basel) doi: 10.3390/plants13141984.
Vieira, T.L., G.A. Salazar, and C. van den Berg. 2024. Phylogeny of Prosthechea (Laeliinae, Orchidaceae) based on nrITS and plastid DNA sequences: Reassessing the lumper-splitter debate and shedding light on the evolution of this Neotropical genus. Taxon. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.13124