''Brassavola'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of 21 orchids (

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...

). They were named in 1813 by the Scottish botanist Robert Brown. The name comes from the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

nobleman and physician Antonio Musa Brassavola. This genus is abbreviated B. in trade journals. These species are widespread across

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

. They are

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

s, and a few are lithophytes. A single, apical and succulent

leaf A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ...

grows on an elongated

pseudobulb The pseudobulb is a storage organ found in many epiphytic and terrestrial sympodial orchids. It is derived from a thickening of the part of a stem between leaf nodes and may be composed of just one internode or several, termed heteroblastic and ...

. The orchid yields a single white or greenish white flower, or a raceme of a few flowers. The three sepals and two lateral petals are greenish, narrow and long. The base of the broad, sometimes fringed

lip The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...

partially enfolds the

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...

. This column has a pair of falciform (sickle-shaped) ears on each side of the front and contains twelve (sometimes eight)

pollinia A pollinium (plural pollinia) is a coherent mass of pollen grains in a plant that are the product of only one anther, but are transferred, during pollination, as a single unit. This is regularly seen in plants such as orchids and many species of mil ...

. Most ''Brassavola'' orchids are very fragrant, attracting

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the m ...

s with their

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

y smell. But they are only fragrant at night, in order to attract the right

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

. Longevity of flowers depends on the species and is between five and thirty days. In 1698 ''

Brassavola nodosa ''Brassavola nodosa'' is a small, tough species of orchid native to Mexico (from Tamaulipas south to Chiapas and the Yucatán Peninsula), Central America, the West Indies, and northern South America (Venezuela, Colombia, Guyana and French Guian ...

'' was the first tropical orchid to be brought from the Caribbean island

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coa ...

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former Provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

. Thus began the propagation of this orchid and the fascination for orchids in general.

Taxonomy

The species of Brassavola have been divided into four sections:H. G. Jones: "Nomenclatural revision o the genus ''Brassavola'' R. Br. of the Orchidaceae" ''Ann. Naturhistor. Mus. Wien'' 79(1975)9—22

''B''. sect. ''Brassavola''

This monotypic section, erected by H. G. Jones in 1969, contains the type of the genus:

''B''. sect. ''Sessilabia''

This section, erected by Rolfe in 1902, is characterized by narrow labella with fimbriate margins to wider labella with entire margins.

''B''. sect. ''Cuneilabia''

This section, erected by Rolfe in 1902, is characterized by narrowly constricted labellum bases. The sectional type is ''B. nodosa''

''B''. sect. ''Lateraliflorae''

This section, erected by H.G.Jones in 1975, is characterized by laterally-borne inflorescences. The sectional type is ''B. acaulis''

Greges and hybrid genera

''Brassavola'' is in the same alliance as the genera ''

Cattleya ''Cattleya'' () is a genus of orchids from Costa Rica south to Argentina. The genus is abbreviated C in trade journals. Description Epiphytic or terrestrial orchids with cylindrical rhizome from which the fleshy noodle-like roots grow. Ps ...

'' and ''

Laelia ''Laelia'' is a small genus of 25 species in the orchid family (Orchidaceae). ''Laelia'' species are found in areas of subtropical or temperate climate in Central and South America, but mostly in Mexico. ''Laelia'' is abbreviated ''L.'' in the ...

''. They have been used extensively in hybridization and represent the "B" at the beginning of the names of such crosses. For example, Blc. is × ''Brassolaeliocattleya''. * ''B.'' Little Stars, a primary hybrid between '' B. nodosa'' and '' B. subulifolia'' * × ''Rhynchovola'' 'David Sanders', a primary intergeneric hybrid between '' B. cucullata'' and ''

Rhyncholaelia digbyana ''Rhyncholaelia digbyana'' is a species of orchid occurring from Honduras to Belize, Guatemala, Mexico and Costa Rica. ''Rl. digbyana'' can be distinguished from the other species of ''Rhyncholaelia'' ('' Rl. glauca'') by the frilled labellum. ...

''. ''Rhyncholaelia digbyana'' was formerly classified as a ''Brassavola''; its hybrids have now been reclassified. * × ''Brassocattleya'' 'Yellow Bird' = × ''Brassocattleya'' 'Richard Mueller × '' ''B.'' nodosa'' * × ''Brassocattleya'' 'Richard Mueller' is a primary intergeneric hybrid between '' B. nodosa'' and '' C. milleri''. ''C. milleri'' was formerly classified as a ''

'' until it was transferred into '' Sophronitis'' which was then sunk into ''

'' to avoid confusion.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q94815 Laeliinae genera Epiphytic orchids