''Oncidium altissimum'', Wydler's dancing-lady orchid, is a species 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. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

native to the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

(

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

and the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

), with an 18th-Century citation from

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Oncidium altissimum (Jacq.) Sw.
/ref> This name should not be confused with the illegitimate homonym ''Oncidium altissimum'' Lindl. 1833, now considered a synonym of '' O. baueri'' native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. The true ''Oncidium altissimum'' was first described in 1760 by Nicolaus Joseph von Jacquin with the name ''Epidendrum altissimum'', citing Jamaica as the origin of the specimen he was describing .Nicolaus Joseph von Jacquin. 1760. Enumeratio Systematica Plantarum, quas in insulis Caribaeis 30.
/ref>

Olof Swartz Olof Peter Swartz (21 September 1760 – 19 September 1818) was a Swedish botanist and taxonomist. He is best known for his taxonomic work and studies into pteridophytes, but also studied orchids, mosses and lichens. Biography Olof Swartz a ...

later transferred the species to '' Oncidium'' in 1800.Swartz, Olof. 1800. Kongl. Vetenskaps Academiens Nya Handlingar 21: 240.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3006462 altissimum Orchids of the Caribbean Orchids of Cuba Orchids of Haiti Orchids of Jamaica Orchids of Puerto Rico Flora of the Windward Islands Flora of the Leeward Islands Plants described in 1760 Taxa named by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin Flora without expected TNC conservation status