''Platystele'' is a

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 ...

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, comprising about 95

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 ...

. Most of these have small flowers, some of the smallest in the family. The genus is widespread across

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 ...

as far south as

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

, but infrequent in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

.Forzza, R. C. 2010. Lista de espécies Flora do Brasil http://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/2010 . Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro Luer, C. A. 1990. Icones Pleurothallidinarum–VII. Systematics of ''Platystele'' (Orchidaceae). Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 38: 1–135.

Images

File:Platystele umbellata Orchi 007.jpg, Platystele umbellata File:Platystele P5313.jpg, Unidentified Platystele File:Platystele P5313ruler2.jpg, Unidentified Platystele

References

External links

* Pleurothallidinae genera Pleurothallidinae Orchids of South America Orchids of Mexico {{Epidendreae-stub