''Pseudovanilla'', commonly known as giant climbing orchids, is a genus of eight climbing

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 in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Orchidaceae. Orchids in this genus have tall climbing stems with clinging roots, leaf-like

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

s and branching flowering stems with colourful, spreading

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s and

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s. Species in the genus are

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

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, the

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New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

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, Solomons,

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and

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

.Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.C. & Rasmussen, F.N. (2003). Genera Orchidacearum 3: 319. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford. The genus was first formally described in 1986 by Leslie Andrew Garay in ''Botanical Museum Leaflets'', the name ''Pseudovanilla'' meaning "false vanilla", a "reference to the casual similarity of the plants to both genera". Garay nominated ''Ledgeria foliata'' (now '' Pseudovanilla foliata'' as the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

species.

List of species

The following is a list of species of ''Pseudovanilla'' recognised by the

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 ...

as at April 2024: * '' Pseudovanilla affinis'' ( J.J.Sm.) Garay (1986) - Java * '' Pseudovanilla anomala'' (

Ames AMES, short Air Ministry Experimental Station, was the name given to the British Air Ministry's radar development team at Bawdsey Manor (afterwards RAF Bawdsey) in the immediate pre-World War II era. The team was forced to move on three occasion ...

L.O.Williams Louis Otho (Otto) Williams (1908 – 1991) was a botanist from Wyoming. He received his BA and MA from the University of Wyoming then a PhD from Washington University in St. Louis. He went on to be editor of the ''American Orchid Society#Publicati ...

) Garay (1986) - Fiji * '' Pseudovanilla foliata'' (

F.Muell. Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria (state), Vic ...

) Garay (1986) - Queensland, New South Wales, New Guinea * '' Pseudovanilla gracilis'' (

Schltr. Friedrich Richard Rudolf Schlechter (16 October 1872 – 16 November 1925) was a German taxonomist, botanist, and author of several works on orchids. He went on botanical expeditions in Africa, Indonesia, New Guinea, South and Central America an ...

) Garay (1986) - New Guinea, Solomon Islands * '' Pseudovanilla montigena'' (Schltr.) Ormerod (2001) - New Guinea * '' Pseudovanilla philippinensis'' (

) Garay (1986) - Luzon * '' Pseudovanilla ponapensis'' ( Kaneh. & Yamam.) Garay (1986) - Pohnpei * '' Pseudovanilla ternatensis'' ( J.J.Sm.) Garay (1986) - Ternate Island

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q310651 Vanilloideae genera Taxa named by Leslie Andrew Garay