Pleurothallis

• 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

  Pleurothallis

• Description

  Genus Description - Plants sympodial, epiphytic, lithophytic or terrestrial, caespitose to repent. Roots velamentous. Rhizome short to elongate. Secondary stems slender, partially or entirely covered by sheaths, unifoliate, often referred to as ramicauls in recent literature. Leaves articulate, apical, erect; petiole present or absent; blades conduplicate, often fleshy, coriaceous, glabrous. Inflorescences pedunculate, from at or near the stem apex, 1 to few, fasciculate, racemose or single-flowered. Ovary jointed to pedicel. Sepals free to variously connate. Lip articulate with a short column foot. Column semiterete; foot often present; clinandrium present or absent; anther dorsal to ventral, operculate; pollinia 2, hard, waxy, pyriform to spherical. Fruit a capsule.

• Discussion

  Pleurothallis R. Brown in Aiton, Hort. Kew., ed. 2, 5: 211. 1813. Type species. Pleurothallis ruscifolia (Jacquin) R. Brown, based on Epidendrum ruscifolium Jacquin of the West Indies, Central America, and tropical South America. A neotropical genus of about 2000 species. The generic name refers to the dense clusters of stems formed by many species. Taxonomic Notes. Studies by C. A. Luer (1986a) of this genus and its subtribe, Pleurothallidinae, have resulted in the segregation of several taxa. The only Pleurothallis segregate that occurs in Puerto Rico is Trichosalpinx. Special Literature. Dod, 1984; Stern & Pridgeon, 1984; H. Rasmussen, 1985; C. A. Luer, 1986a, 1986b.