Wullschlaegelia aphylla (Sw.) Rchb.f.

  • 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

    Wullschlaegelia aphylla (Sw.) Rchb.f.

  • Description

    Species Description - Plants terrestrial, leafless, achlorophyllous, erect, 16-45 cm tall. Roots fleshy, some fusiform, others slender, clustered, 1-3 mm diam., 2-3 cm long. Rhizomes subterranean, very short, horizontal or ascending. Inflorescences erect, terminal; pubescence of numerous short, branched, brown trichomes; scapes with minute, distant bracts; racemes 3-15 cm long, densely many-flowered, apex nodding in bud; rachis straightening and elongating as flowers and fruits mature; floral bracts sparsely pubescent, scarious, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 1.5-2.5 mm long. Flowers white, covered with the small branched trichomes, minute, resupinate, cleistogamous. Pedicellate ovary 1.5 mm long. Sepals and petals connivent, free, linear-oblong, obtuse. Dorsal sepal 1-2.5 mm long, less than 1 mm wide; lateral sepals oblique, decurrent along the column foot, forming a mentum, 2-3.5 mm long, less than 1 mm wide. Petals 1-2.5 mm long, less than 1 mm wide. Lip attached to the tip of the column foot, basally saccate, oblong-obovate, obtuse, 3-5 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide. Column short, ca. 1 mm long; foot ca. 2 mm long; pollinia lacking caudicles. Fruits ellipsoidal-obovoid, 5-10 mm long.

  • Discussion

    1. Wullschlaegelia aphylla (Swartz) Reichenbach f., Bot. Zeitung (Berlin) 21: 131. 1863. Cranichis aphylla Swartz, Nov. Gen. Sp. PL Prodr. 120. 1788. Type. Swartz s.n., from mountains near Clarendon, Jamaica (BM, UPS). Phenology & Pollination. Plants bloom from March to May. The flowers are cleistogamous. Buds, developing fruits, and dehisced fruits frequently occur simultaneously on the same inflorescences. Illustrations. Martius, 1893-1906; Dunsterville & Garay, 1979.

  • Distribution

    General Distribution. Central America, Mexico, tropical South America, and West Indies.

    Central America| Mexico North America| West Indies| South America|