Orchid Power - Greenfly Orchid
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Greenfly Orchid (Epidendrum conopseum)
RANGE: Southeastern coastal plain from North Carolina to Louisiana; disjunct in eastern Mexico.
DESCRIPTION: Perennial herb on trees or rocks. The leafy stems extend to 30 cm and areattached to the substrate by a mass of slender roots. The leaves are leathery, evergreen, narrowly elliptic, dullgreen, 3-10 cm long, and 5-15 mm wide. The flowers are 2-3 cm wide, arranged in a loose terminal cluster. The three sepals and two lateral petals are mostly yellowish-green; the 3-lobed lip petal is tinged with dull purple. The fruit is an elliptic, drooping capsule.
HABITAT: Found in moist to seasonally dry woods on shaded limbs of hardwoods, especially southern magnolia and live oak,and the walls of deep sandstone (actually hardened clay known as Altamaha Grit) crevices kept cool by shade and evaporation of moisture.
SPECIAL IDENTIFICATION FEATURES: Greenfly orchid is Georgia's only orchid perched on trees, where it is often associated with resurrection fern and air plants. When terrestrial (on rock), greenfly orchid is distinguished from other orchids by its evergreen, leafy, flowering stem with inconspicuously colored (greenish-yellow, sometimes with purplish tinge), loosely arranged flowers.
REMARKS: Epidendrum is a genus of roughly 500 species found in the warmer portions of the New World. The genus name derives from the Greek words for "ontree," appropriate for a group comprised of non-parasitic plants that grow perched on trees. Most of the species are showier than the present species, and many are cultivated. This species was described in 1813, based on plants collected earlier in Florida by William Bartram. Epidendrum conopseum is the most frost-tolerant of epiphytic orchids, and therefore is sometimes collected from the wild in excess by unscrupulous or unthinking orchid growers or dealers. It has also sustained significant habitat loss due to clearing of forest land, chiefly for conversion to agricultural land or pine plantation.
Greenfly Orchid (Epidendrum conopseum)
RANGE: Southeastern coastal plain from North Carolina to Louisiana; disjunct in eastern Mexico.
DESCRIPTION: Perennial herb on trees or rocks. The leafy stems extend to 30 cm and areattached to the substrate by a mass of slender roots. The leaves are leathery, evergreen, narrowly elliptic, dullgreen, 3-10 cm long, and 5-15 mm wide. The flowers are 2-3 cm wide, arranged in a loose terminal cluster. The three sepals and two lateral petals are mostly yellowish-green; the 3-lobed lip petal is tinged with dull purple. The fruit is an elliptic, drooping capsule.
HABITAT: Found in moist to seasonally dry woods on shaded limbs of hardwoods, especially southern magnolia and live oak,and the walls of deep sandstone (actually hardened clay known as Altamaha Grit) crevices kept cool by shade and evaporation of moisture.
SPECIAL IDENTIFICATION FEATURES: Greenfly orchid is Georgia's only orchid perched on trees, where it is often associated with resurrection fern and air plants. When terrestrial (on rock), greenfly orchid is distinguished from other orchids by its evergreen, leafy, flowering stem with inconspicuously colored (greenish-yellow, sometimes with purplish tinge), loosely arranged flowers.
REMARKS: Epidendrum is a genus of roughly 500 species found in the warmer portions of the New World. The genus name derives from the Greek words for "ontree," appropriate for a group comprised of non-parasitic plants that grow perched on trees. Most of the species are showier than the present species, and many are cultivated. This species was described in 1813, based on plants collected earlier in Florida by William Bartram. Epidendrum conopseum is the most frost-tolerant of epiphytic orchids, and therefore is sometimes collected from the wild in excess by unscrupulous or unthinking orchid growers or dealers. It has also sustained significant habitat loss due to clearing of forest land, chiefly for conversion to agricultural land or pine plantation.
posted by Ralph Brownly @ 8:33 PM
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