''Calopogon'', grass pink, is a genus of terrestrial
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 ...
s (
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Orchidaceae). The generic name is from
Greek
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Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
and means "beautiful beard", referring to the cluster of hairs adorning the
labellum. The five species are native to the eastern
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, eastern
Canada
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,
Cuba
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and the
Bahamas
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.
[Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families](_blank)
/ref> The genus ''Calopogon'' is abbreviated Cpg in trade journals.
''Calopogon'', like many other orchids, is an indicator species for good remnant hydrology. This means that their presence is an indication of high-quality ground and surface water. Most species of ''Calopogon'' frequent wet, sunny swales, bogs, and the edges of marshy areas, and associate with ferns, sedges, grasses and forbs. '' Calopogon oklahomensis'' has been observed in drier areas than '' Calopogon tuberosus'' would prefer.
One distinguishing feature of the grass pinks is that, unlike most orchids, they are non-resupinate. The lip of calopogon is on the top of the flower, not the bottom, as is common with most other genera. The brushy, yellow protuberances on the lip are also designed to attract pollinators, but they only tempt without providing a reward. To add injury to insult, the flower then snaps closed when a potential pollinator lands on it, and the insect has to crawl out of the tight quarters between the lip and the reproductive parts below in order to escape, hopefully pollinating the flower in the process.
The other deception they use is their frequent association with nectar-bearing flowers of the same color; ''Calopogon'' is often an associate of the magenta marsh phlox, in the northern United States, the phlox bearing nectar to reward curious insects while the deceptive but showy ''Calopogon'' does not.
Species
Five species are currently accepted as of May 2014:
/ref>
References
External links
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*
Arethuseae genera
Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)
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