''Houlletia'' is a genus of large-growing

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 ...

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 native to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, and possibly also

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

through

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. was established with the publication by Brogniartt of ''Houlletia brocklehurstiana'' in 1841. The genus is named in honor of orchid collector and grower M. Houllet, French orchid collector in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, later the director of the ''Botanic Jardin des Plantes'' in Paris, 19th century.

Description

The plants have ovoid, ridged pseudobulbs, each bearing 2-4 large, pleated leaves. The inflorescences begin from the base of the pseudobulbs and are always pendant, with fleshy, showy flowers hanging downward ("nodding") on a simple raceme. The dorsal sepal is free and the lateral sepals form a short mentum with the column foot. The petals are similar to the dorsal sepal but smaller. The lip is deeply 3-lobed, the lateral lobes are upcurved and the mid-lobe is spreading. The anther is imperfectly two-celled and there are two waxy pollinia, cleft, with viscidium and a prominent stipe.

Taxonomy

''Houlletia'' is placed in the subtribe

Stanhopeinae Stanhopeinae is a subtribe of plants in the tribe Cymbidieae. The subtribe in the strict sense, have viscidia and stipes that are thin and strap-like, they are adapted for attachment to edge of the bee's scutellum or to a leg. Pseudobulbs are us ...

. In 1999, E. Luckel & H. Fessel published the new genus ''Jennyella'' "to accommodate the globose, white flowered taxa." Their new genus included four ''Houlletia'' species. Cited in , ''Jennyella'' was not accepted by Plants of the World Online, which treated it as a synonym of ''Houlletia''. A 2000

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study distinguished a ''Houlletia'' clade within the subtribe, comprising '' Horichia'', ''Houlletia'', ''

Paphinia ''Paphinia'', abbreviated in horticultural trade Pna, is a genus of orchids, composed of an estimated 16 species from Central America, northern South America and Trinidad. These species are medium-sized epiphytes with small ovoid pseudobulbs and ...

'', ''Schlimmia'', and ''

Trevoria ''Trevoria'' is a genus of orchids native to southeastern Central America and northwestern South America. It grows in intermediate temperature and is found from Nicaragua and Costa Rica to Bolivia. ''Trevoria'' was described by FC Lehmann in 18 ...

''. The study suggested that ''Houlletia'' might be

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

, with two morphologically distinct groups. One group, containing '' H. brockelhurstiana'' (the type species), '' H. tigrina'' and '' H. odoratissima'', has open, resupinate flowers heavily spotted in red-brown and the lip shares many features of the lip of ''

''. The viscidium is narrow, approximately the same width as the long stipe. The other group, containing '' H. sanderi'', '' H. wallisii'' and '' H. lowiana'', has globose, nonresupinate white to yellow flowers, mostly unspotted, and borne on an erect inflorescence. The viscidium is broad and concave.

Species

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

accepted the following species: *'' Houlletia brocklehurstiana'' Lindl. *'' Houlletia conspersa'' P.Ortiz *'' Houlletia lowiana'' Rchb.f. *'' Houlletia odoratissima'' Linden *'' Houlletia roraimensis'' Rolfe *'' Houlletia sanderi'' Rolfe *'' Houlletia tigrina'' (Linden) Lindl. *'' Houlletia unguiculata'' Schltr. *'' Houlletia uribevelezii'' Sauleda *'' Houlletia wallisii'' Linden & Rchb.f.

Intergeneric hybrids

*''Houllora'' (''Gongora'' × ''Houlletia''), in ''Orchid Rev.'', 108(1234), IPNI ID 1014858-1, February 7, 2003

Habitat

They are found growing epiphytically and terrestrially on embankments in cool, humid, wet areas, 1,000-2,200 m elevation.

References

* Brogniart (1841) "Houlletia brocklehurstiana," in: Annales des Sciences Naturelles; Botanique, sér. 2, 15: 37 * International Plant Names Index (IPNI)

External links

The Stanhopea Pages website /Houlletia
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3308405 Stanhopeinae genera Epiphytic orchids Taxa named by Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart