''Oeceoclades maculata'', sometimes known as the monk orchid or African spotted orchid, is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus '' Oeceoclades'' that is native to

tropical Africa The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

and now

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

in South and Central America, the Caribbean, and Florida in North America. It was first described by the English botanist

John Lindley John Lindley Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidology, orchidologist. Early years Born in Old Catton, Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four c ...

as ''Angraecum maculatum'' in 1821 based on a specimen collected from South America. Lindley later revised his original placement and moved the species to the genus ''Oeceoclades'' in 1833. ''Oeceoclades maculata'' was first found naturalized outside of Africa in Brazil in 1829. It was later found throughout the

Neotropics The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeog ...

and specifically in Puerto Rico in the mid-1960s and in Florida in the early 1970s. It is considered to be one of the most successful invasive orchids.Stern, W.L. 1988. The long-distance dispersal of ''Oeceoclades maculata''. ''American Orchid Society Bulletin'', 57(9): 960-971. When

Leslie Andrew Garay Leslie Andrew Garay (August 6, 1924 – August 19, 2016), born Garay László András, was an American botanist. He was the curator of the Oakes Ames (botanist), Oakes Ames Orchid Herbarium at Harvard University, where he succeeded Charles Schweinf ...

and Peter Taylor resurrected and revised the genus ''Oeceoclades'' in 1976, they recognized ''O. maculata'' and two related species, ''O. mackenii'' and ''O. monophylla''. All three were described as being very similar in appearance and according to Garay and Taylor, the species could be distinguished by the proportions of the labellum, allowing for easy identification in preserved specimens or in the field in their opinion. ''Oeceoclades mackenii'' was said to have a labellum that was shorter than wide and possessed a branched

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

, while the labellum of ''O. monophylla'' had a "distinct elongate isthmus." Garay and Taylor also recognized the subspecies ''O. maculata'' subsp. ''pterocarpa'', which was said to have winged capsules.Garay, L.A., and P. Taylor. 1976
The genus ''Oeceoclades'' Lindl.
''Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University'' 24(9): 249-274. Later authors did not agree with recognizing these distinctions as sufficient to maintain separate taxa and thus reduced these names to synonyms of ''O. maculata''.

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* * maculata Orchids of Central America Orchids of Belize Flora of East Tropical Africa Flora of South Tropical Africa Flora of West Tropical Africa Flora of West-Central Tropical Africa Flora of the Western Indian Ocean Flora of Sudan Plants described in 1821 {{Cymbidieae-stub