The

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 n ...

''Cochleanthes'' is made up of 4

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

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. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

s native to

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

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 Great ...

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 souther ...

. The name ''Cochleanthes'' refers to the shape of the

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

(in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

, ''cochlos'' means "shell" and ''anthos'' means "flower").

Description

This genus as a rule lacks

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 a ...

s and consequently produces tufted fan-like growths of fairly erect narrow leaves, and conforms to the

sympodial Sympodial growth is a bifurcating branching pattern where one branch develops more strongly than the other, resulting in the stronger branches forming the primary shoot and the weaker branches appearing laterally. A sympodium, also referred to a ...

method of growth. Plants of this genus produce single-flowered

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

s, with the flowers often being quite large for the size of the plant, and occurring at any time of the year, though slightly more concentrated during summer in cultivation. All members of this genus have their flowers dominated by the large labellum (lip) which often has longitudinal markings upon it which serve as a

nectar guide Nectar guides are markings or patterns seen in flowers of some angiosperm species, that guide pollinators to their rewards. Rewards commonly take the form of nectar, pollen, or both, but various plants produce oil, resins, scents, or waxes. Suc ...

for

pollinating Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds, ...

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s. The flowers have four

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 mi ...

.Stevens, W. D., C. Ulloa Ulloa, A. Pool & O. M. Montiel. 2001. Flora de Nicaragua. Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 85: i–xlii,. ''Cochleanthes'' is best kept under intermediate conditions with fairly high humidity, and should never be allowed to dry out. Plants are epiphytes and grow at elevations of up to 1500 metres in

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud ...

List of species

# ''

Cochleanthes aromatica ''Cochleanthes aromatica'' is a species of orchid. References aromatica {{Cymbidieae-stub ...

'' (Rchb.f.) R.E.Schult. & Garay - Costa Rica, Panama # ''

Cochleanthes flabelliformis ''Cochleanthes flabelliformis'' is a species of orchid and the type species of the genus ''Cochleanthes The genus ''Cochleanthes'' is made up of 4 species of orchids native to Mexico, Central America, the West Indies and South America. The n ...

'' (Sw.) R.E.Schult. & Garay - Mexico, Central America, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil # ''

Cochleanthes lueddemanniana The genus ''Cochleanthes'' is made up of 4 species of orchids native to Mexico, Central America, the West Indies and South America. The name ''Cochleanthes'' refers to the shape of the flower (in Greek, ''cochlos'' means "shell" and ''an ...

'' (Rchb.f.) R.E.Schult. & Garay - Colombia # '' Cochleanthes trinitatis'' (Ames) R.E.Schult. & Garay - Trinidad ;formerly included # ''

Cochleanthes amazonica ''Warczewiczella amazonica'' is a species of orchid native to Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as w ...

'' =

Warczewiczella amazonica ''Warczewiczella amazonica'' is a species of orchid native to Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as w ...

# '' Cochleanthes candida'' = Warczewiczella candida # ''

Cochleanthes discolor ''Warczewiczella discolor'' is a species of orchid native to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Cuba, Costa Rica, Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is b ...

'' =

Warczewiczella discolor ''Warczewiczella discolor'' is a species of orchid native to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Cuba, Costa Rica, Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is b ...

# ''

Cochleanthes guianensis The genus ''Cochleanthes'' is made up of 4 species of orchids native to Mexico, Central America, the West Indies and South America. The name ''Cochleanthes'' refers to the shape of the flower (in Greek, ''cochlos'' means "shell" and ''anthos'' me ...

'' =

Warczewiczella guianensis ''Warczewiczella'' is a genus of orchids native to South America, Central America, and Cuba. #''Warczewiczella amazonica'' Rchb.f. & Warsz. - Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil #'' Warczewiczella candida'' (Lindl.) Rchb.f. - Brazil #''Warczewicz ...

# '' Cochleanthes ionoleuca'' =

Warczewiczella ionoleuca ''Warczewiczella'' is a genus of orchids native to South America, Central America, and Cuba. #''Warczewiczella amazonica'' Rchb.f. & Warsz. - Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil #'' Warczewiczella candida'' (Lindl.) Rchb.f. - Brazil #''Warczewicz ...

# '' Cochleanthes lobata'' =

Warczewiczella lobata ''Warczewiczella'' is a genus of orchids native to South America, Central America, and Cuba. #''Warczewiczella amazonica'' Rchb.f. & Warsz. - Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil #'' Warczewiczella candida'' (Lindl.) Rchb.f. - Brazil #''Warczewicz ...

# ''

Cochleanthes marginata ''Warczewiczella marginata'' is a species of orchid native to Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as w ...

''=

Warczewiczella marginata ''Warczewiczella marginata'' is a species of orchid native to Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as w ...

# ''

Cochleanthes palatina The genus ''Cochleanthes'' is made up of 4 species of orchids native to Mexico, Central America, the West Indies and South America. The name ''Cochleanthes'' refers to the shape of the flower (in Greek language, Greek, ''cochlos'' means "shell" a ...

'' =

Warczewiczella palatina ''Warczewiczella'' is a genus of orchids native to South America, Central America, and Cuba. #''Warczewiczella amazonica'' Rchb.f. & Warsz. - Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil #'' Warczewiczella candida'' (Lindl.) Rchb.f. - Brazil #''Warczewicz ...

# '' Cochleanthes wailesiana'' =

Warczewiczella wailesiana ''Warczewiczella'' is a genus of orchids native to South America, Central America, and Cuba. #''Warczewiczella amazonica'' Rchb.f. & Warsz. - Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil #'' Warczewiczella candida'' (Lindl.) Rchb.f. - Brazil #''Warczewicz ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2068974 Zygopetalinae genera Epiphytic orchids Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque