Liparis nervosa (Thunb.) Lindl.

  • Authority

    Ackerman, James D. 1995. An orchid flora of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 73: 1-203.

  • Family

    Orchidaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Liparis nervosa (Thunb.) Lindl.

  • Description

    Species Description - Plants terrestrial, caespitose, glabrous aboveground. Roots numerous, slender, villous, 1-3 mm diam. Stems pseudobulbous, thick, succulent, subconical, 1.5-4 cm tall, covered by scarious leaf sheaths. Leaves several, thin, plicate, broadly elliptic, obtuse to acuminate, to 20 cm long, 8 cm wide. Inflorescences scape purple, terminal, erect, angular-winged to 30 cm tall; raceme several- to many-flowered, to 12 cm tall; floral bracts green, spreading, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, 3-8 mm long. Flowers glabrous, small, erect, dark purple with a green column. Pedicel late ovary slender, 8-12 mm long. Sepals spreading, entire,revolute; dorsal sepal elliptic-oblong, obtuse, 5-8 mm long, 2.5-3 mm wide; lateral sepals ovate-falcate, 5-7 mm long, 2.5-5 mm wide. Petals somewhat reflexed, linear-oblanceolate, rounded, 5.5 mm long, 1.5 mm wide. Lip entire, base with a pair of tubercles, fleshy, obovate, retuse, reflexed, ca. 4 mm long and wide when spread. Column semiterete, arched, 3-4 mm long. Fruits erect, green to purple, obovoid, 9-14 mm long. Chromosomes: n = 21, 2/2 = 42.

  • Discussion

    3. Liparis nervosa (Thunberg) Lindley, Gen. Sp. Orchid. PL 26. 1830. Ophrys nervosa Thunberg, Fl. Jap. 27. 1784. Type. Thunberg s.n., from Japan (holotype, UPS). Fig. 57. Liparis elata Lindley, Bot. Reg. 14: pi. 1175. 1828. Type. Chamberlain s.n., from Rio de Janiero, Brazil (K-L). Liparis eggersii Reichenbach f., Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Ges. 3: 278. 1885. Type. Eggers s.n., from near Bonne Resolution, 300 m elev., St. Thomas (W). Phenology & Pollination. Most plants bloom from July to February. Fruit set is excellent, and the flowers may be autogamous. A Liparis in North America self-pollinates when the inflorescences are jarred, dislodging the pollinia, which then contact the stigma (Catling, 1980). Taxonomic Notes. The literature often refers to this species as L. elata, which is appropriate if N e w World plants represent a different species from those of the Old World. After detailed study, however, Garay (1971) concluded that they are synonymous.

  • Distribution

    General Distribution. Pantropical.