''Aerides'', known commonly as cat's-tail orchids and fox brush orchids, is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

belonging to the orchid family (

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family (biology), family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan plants that ...

, subfamily

Epidendroideae Epidendroideae is a subfamily of plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Epidendroideae is larger than all the other orchid subfamilies together, comprising more than 15,000 species in 576 genera. Most epidendroid orchids are tropical epiphytes ...

, tribe Vandeae, subtribe Aeridinae). It is a group of

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

epiphyte An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another 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 epiphyt ...

orchids that grow mainly in the warm lowlands of tropical Asia from India to southern China to New Guinea.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> They are valued in horticulture for their racemes of showy, fragrant, colorful flowers. The name of the genus refers to the epiphytic growth habit of the species, and literally means "air-plant". The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

, '' Aerides odorata'', was described by

João de Loureiro João de Loureiro (1717, Lisbon – 18 October 1791) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese Jesuit missionary and botanist. Biography After receiving admission to the Jesuit Order, João de Loureiro served as a missionary in Goa, capital of Port ...

in 1790. This genus is abbreviated Aer in the horticultural trade.

Description

The species in this genus range from small to large

monopodial Vascular plants with monopodial growth habits grow upward from a single point. They add leaves to the apex each year and the stem grows longer accordingly. The word ''Monopodial'' is derived from Greek language, Greek '', ''one'' and '', "foot", in ...

epiphytes, except for '' Aerides krabiensis'', which is a

lithophyte Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. They can be classified as either epilithic (or epipetric) or endolithic; epilithic lithophytes grow on the surfaces of rocks, while endolithic lithophytes grow in the crevices of rocks (and are als ...

. They form pendulous

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

s with many long-lasting, fragrant, waxy

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s, which are often white with purple or pink edges. Some species have purple or pink flowers, and a few have yellow. Each flower has a forward-facing

spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...

and grows on a sharp, stout, leafy

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

. The leaves are distichous, growing in two vertical rows. The leaf margins are bilobed, and the apex is emarginate. There are ligules. Morphologically, they are very similar to species in the genus ''

Vanda ''Vanda'', abbreviated in the horticultural trade as ''V.,'' is a genus in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. There are 90 species, and the genus is commonly cultivated for the marketplace. This genus and its allies are considered to be among the ...

''.

Habitat

The genus grows in the tropics of Asia, in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

. They flower from June to July. Temperature requirements vary from cool to warm growing depending on the species.

Cultivation

Most ''Aerides'' species are considered easy to grow. Their flowers are fragrant and long-lived, which make them popular in horticulture as cut flowers and potted plants. ''Aerides'' can be kept in

hanging basket A hanging basket is a suspended container used for growing plants. The purpose of hanging baskets in ornamental horticulture is to display plants suspended in the air to add to the aesthetics of the environment. Hanging baskets can vary by the c ...

s, teak containers or net pots, which allow the roots to extend into the air. They grow best in well-drained media, such as

tree fern Tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk (botany), trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae ( ...

fibers,

fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

bark, and

sphagnum moss ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...

. They require full sunlight, warm temperatures, and water applied to the roots. The plants do not tolerate disturbance or damage of their root systems in cultivation.Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids The plants do not have

pseudobulb In botany, a 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 ''heter ...

s. The leaves are leathery and drought-resistant. Many of these species have a monopodial vine-like growth habit, and the plants can quickly grow large.

Species

The following species are recognized as of June 2014, all monopodial

epiphytic An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another 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 epiphyt ...

plants except the lithophyte ''A. krabiense''. # '' Aerides augustiana'' Rolfe - Philippines # '' Aerides crassifolia'' C.S.P.Parish ex Burb. - Assam, Indochina # '' Aerides crispa'' Lindl. - western India # '' Aerides emericii'' Rchb.f. - Andaman and Nicobar Islands # '' Aerides falcata'' Lindl. & Paxton - Yunnan, Indochina # '' Aerides houlletiana'' Rchb.f. - Indochina # Aerides huttonii (Hook.f.) J.H.Veitch - Sulawesi # '' Aerides inflexa'' Teijsm. & Binn. - Borneo, Sulawesi # '' Aerides × jansonii'' Rolfe - Myanmar ''(A. falcata × A. odorata)'' # '' Aerides krabiense'' Seidenf. - Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia # '' Aerides lawrenceae'' Rchb.f. - Philippines # '' Aerides leeana'' Rchb.f. - Philippines # '' Aerides macmorlandii'' B.S.Williams - India # '' Aerides maculosa'' Lindl. - India # '' Aerides multiflora'' Roxb. - India, Himalayas, Nepal, Bhutan, Assam, Andaman Islands, Indochina # '' Aerides odorata'' Lour. - Yunnan, Guangdong, India, Himalayas, Bangladesh, Nepal, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Indochina, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia # '' Aerides orthocentra'' Hand.-Mazz. - Yunnan # ''

Aerides quinquevulnera ''Aerides quinquevulnera'' is a species of orchid found in the Philippines and in New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest ...

'' Lindl. - Philippines, New Guinea # '' Aerides ringens'' (Lindl.) C.E.C.Fisch. in J.S.Gamble - India, Sri Lanka, Andaman Islands # '' Aerides roebelenii'' Rchb.f. - Philippines # '' Aerides rosea'' Lodd. ex Lindl. & Paxton - Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Bhutan, Assam, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam # ''

Aerides rubescens ''Aerides'', known commonly as cat's-tail orchids and fox brush orchids, is a genus belonging to the orchid family (Orchidaceae, subfamily Epidendroideae, tribe Vandeae, subtribe Aeridinae). It is a group of tropical epiphyte orchids that gro ...

'' (Rolfe) Schltr. - Vietnam # ''

Aerides savageana ''Aerides'', known commonly as cat's-tail orchids and fox brush orchids, is a genus belonging to the orchid family (Orchidaceae, subfamily Epidendroideae, tribe Vandeae, subtribe Aeridinae). It is a group of tropical epiphyte orchids that gro ...

'' A.H.Kent in H.J.Veitch - Philippines # '' Aerides shibatiana'' Boxall ex Náves in F.M.Blanco - Philippines # '' Aerides sukauensis'' Shim - Sabah # '' Aerides thibautiana'' Rchb.f. - Sulawesi # '' Aerides timorana'' Miq. - Timor† (apparently extinct; not collected since 1849)

Hybrids

Natural hybrids include ''Aerides'' × ''jansonii'', a cross between '' Aerides falcata'' and '' Aerides odorata''. Many hybrids have been made between ''Aerides'' and other orchids. The horticultural specimen × ''Christieara'' is a three-way hybrid between ''Aerides'', ''Vanda'', and '' Ascocentrum''. Hybrids come in a wide range of colors due to the high degree of

genetic diversity Genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species. It ranges widely, from the number of species to differences within species, and can be correlated to the span of survival for a species. It is d ...

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q21107 Vandeae genera Epiphytes Orchids of Asia