''Ambrella'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

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 ...

in the

orchid 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. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

family.De La Bathie, H. P. (1934)
"Ambrella, genre nouveau d'Orchidées (Angraecoïdées) de Madagascar."
Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France, 81(4), 655-657. The single

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

, ''Ambrella longituba'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. The type specimen was collected and described by

Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie (11 August 1873 – 2 October 1958) was a French botany, botanist who specialized in the plants of Madagascar. He is the nephew of Eugène Pierre Perrier de la Bâthie, (1825-1916), another botanist ...

in 1934.

Description

The plants are relatively small, epiphytic orchids. The flowers are big in relation to the size of the plants. The sepals are free and resemble the petals. The unusual, 45 mm long, spurred labellum is tubulate and encloses the

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

. The inner surface of the tube is covered with

trichome Trichomes (; ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

Ecology

This species is native to the semi-dry forests of the Northern tip of Madagascar at altitudes of 800 m above sea level. It has been found growing on branches of '' Viguieranthus alternans'' (Benth.) Villiers (syn. ''Calliandra alternans'' Benth.),Lecoufle, M., & Bosser, J. (2011)
"Les Orchidées de Madagascar: Orchids of Madagascar."
BIOTOPE. which is the preferred

phorophyte In botany, phorophytes are plants on which epiphytes grow. The term is composed of ''phoro'', meaning bearer or carrier and ''phyte'', meaning plant. Commensalistic interactions The epiphytes benefit from the habitats provided, but the phoroph ...

of ''Ambrella longituba''. Its pollinators are corrently unknown.Pridgeon, A. M., Cribb, P. J., Chase, M. W., & Rasmussen, F. N. (Eds.). (2014)
"Genera Orchidacearum Volume 6: Epidendroideae (Part 3)."
OUP Oxford. However, H. Perrier De La Bathie speculates the narrow tube of the labellum only allows a few very special insects to fertilise the flowers, and he states this explains the rarity of the species. Flowering occurs in November.

Conservation

This species is rare. There are five known records of occurrence dating from 1932 to 1995. One record was collected from within the Parc national de la Montagne d'Ambre and another was collected in close proximity of the Réserve spéciale de la Forêt d'Ambre. It is protected under the

CITES appendix II CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

Etymology

The specific epithet ''longituba'' is composed of ''longi-'' meaning long and ''-tuba'' meaning trumpet.tuba. (n.d.) American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. (2011). Retrieved October 21, 2022 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/tuba It refers to the long tube-shaped labellum of the flowers.

Cultivation

It is uncommon in cultivation.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from1=Q20799, from2=Q9385182 Angraecinae Orchids of Madagascar Monotypic Epidendroideae genera Plants described in 1934 Taxa named by Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie