''Rhyncholaelia digbyana'' is a species of

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 ...

occurring from

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

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 ...

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

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

. ''Rl. digbyana'' can be distinguished from the other species of ''Rhyncholaelia'' ('' Rl. glauca'') by the frilled labellum. The orchid has been discovered by José Antonio Molina Rosito, a Honduran botanist and

Professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

at the Zamorano Pan-American School of Agriculture. ''Rhyncholaelia digbyana'' was declared the national flower of Honduras (Flor Nacional de Honduras) on 1969 November 26.

Etymology

The species name digbyana comes from the family name of the collector Edward St. Vincent Digby who had the first described specimen.

Taxonomy

The orchid that is now known as ''Rhyncholaelia digbyana'' was first described as Brassavola digbyanna in 1846 by

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 ...

. The plant he described was in the collection of Edward St. Vincent Digby, it was reported to have originated from Honduras. Since its original description it has been reclassified three times in to various genus's before being moved in the new genus ''Rhyncholaelia'' along with '' Brassavola glauca'' by

Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach (Dresden, 3 January 1823 – Hamburg, 6 May 1889) was a botanist and the foremost Germany, German orchidologist of the 19th century. His father Ludwig Reichenbach, Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach (author of ''Ico ...

''.''

Characteristics

This species grows epiphyticly on host treas in its native range. It has elongated compressed

pseudobulb In botany, a pseudobulb is a storage organ found in many epiphytic and terrestrial sympodial orchids. It is derived from a thickening of the part of a stem between leaf nodes and may be composed of just one internode or several, termed ''heter ...

s topped with a singular leaf.

Flowers

In its native range flowering occurs from February to June. The 7 in (18 cm) flowers are held singularly on 3 in (7.5 cm) long

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 ...

s which emerge from the apex of newly grown pseudobulbs. The flowers range in color from white to green and possess the characteristic frilled labellum.

Scent

This orchid is strongly scented at night with the scent reported to be similar to that of

lemon The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

Lily of the valley Lily of the valley (''Convallaria majalis'' ), sometimes written lily-of-the-valley, is a woodland flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers borne in sprays in spring. It is native throughout the cool temperate No ...

. The scent is composed nine different compounds four the compounds are alpha-pinene, ocimene, Citronellol, and

Linalool Linalool () refers to two enantiomers of a naturally occurring terpene alcohol found in many flowers and spice plants. Together with geraniol, nerol, and citronellol, linalool is one of the rose alcohols. Linalool has multiple commercial app ...

Hybrid offspring

* Rhyncholaeliocattleya Thetis * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Adulana * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Andeanna * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Jungle Wine * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Edgar Wigan * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Puritan * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Calypso * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Delight * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Pervenusta * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Portage Pass * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Oriens * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Gertrude Fannin * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Beardwoodensis * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Arderniae * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Ben Kodama * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Pulcherrima * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Greenlake * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Miguel * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Chatham * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Mrs. J. Emsley * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Mrs. M. Gratrix * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Suessa * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Mantou * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Jujuy * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Ruth Gillmar * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Rolfei * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Ferrières * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Rowena * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Mrs. J. Leemann * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Walter Fujikami * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Tokyo * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Diadem * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Mackayi * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' digbyana-elongata * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Beardwoodensis * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Frasquita * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Digbyano-Ernestii * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Lydia * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Eva's Suavemente Jungla * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Tring Park Hybrid * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Pervenusta * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Holfordii * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Patrick FOG McClintock * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Vella * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Thera * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Thorntonii * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Raymond Hughes * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Geoffrey * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Excelsior * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Pluto * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Polychrome * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Praetii * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Honolulu * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Heatonensis * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Hélèn Maron * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' King Harold * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Madame Jules Hye * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Queen Alexandra * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Lido * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Sonia * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Tuscarora * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Hippocrates * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Cordelia * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Madame Mavrocordato * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Frank Hartman * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Fuji * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Jeanne Weidele * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Marguerite Fournier * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Rosslyn * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Ena * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Qian Hoo * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Louis-Bel * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Groganiae * Rhyncholaeliocattleya The Baron * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Lucio-Digbyana * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Wellesleyae * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Watteau * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Letty * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Fulgens * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Astarte * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Ahiahi * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Elfriede * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Impératrice de Russie * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Dimet * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Digbyano-mossiae * Rhyncholaeliocattleya S. M. Damon * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Carmen * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Itu City * Rhyncholaeliocattleya Florence Kodama *Rhyncholaeliocattleya Fuyouko *Rhyncholaeliocattleya Brunoyensis * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Sweet Dimple * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Joyce Jewell * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Rhea * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Annette * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Cecilia * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Digbyano-Purpurata * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Mrs. Chamberlain * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Choo * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Grace Weston * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Rex * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Herbert Beaumont * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Luna * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Robinsons Delight * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Ursula * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Saint Alban * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Balarucensis * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Langleyensis * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Susan Rendall * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Taichung Summer Star * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Del Rosa * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Helen * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Susanniae * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Suzannae * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' John Fredrick Osterholt * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Big Ben * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Sedeni * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Naalukea * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Undine * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Murillo * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Velutiana * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Cynthia * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Pocahontas * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Digbyano-Warneri * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Madame Charles Maron * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Kenneth * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Canari * ''Rhyncattleanthe'' Balboana * ''Rhyncattleanthe'' Ross McDonald * ''Rhyncattleanthe'' Little Digby * ''Rhyncanthe'' Marilyn Fancher * ''Rhyncanthe'' Siren * ''Laecholaelia'' Lellieuxii * ''Laecholaelia'' Thwaitesii * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Madam Ernest * ''Rhynchothechea'' H. G. Alexander * ''Psychelia'' Orglade's Clove * ''Rhyncattleanthe'' Solar Sunset * ''Rhyncholaelia'' Mem. Coach Blackmore * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Loretta's Dream * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Iao Valley * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Duh's Wisdom * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Rio's Green Magic * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' digbyana-Haadyai Delight * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Tzeng-Wen Dancer * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Pikapene * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Mem. Michel Oliveau * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Ta-Shiang White Monkey * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Duh's White * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Building Dream Green * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Susan Scott * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Eva's Cacique Escarlata * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Hsinying White Pig * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' River Kwai Diamond * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Oregon Pine * ''Rhynchovola'' Mem. Aubrey Jacobs * ''Rhynchovola'' David Sander * ''Brassavola'' Kathy Cox * ''Rhynchovola'' Jimminey Cricket * ''Rhynchovola'' Gerry Cassella * ''Rhynchovola'' Dancehall Skets * ''Rhynchobrassoleya'' Vigour Airbyana * ''Rhynchobrassoleya'' Connie Warne Bowden * ''Rhynchobrassoleya'' Unbelievable Times * ''Rhynchobrassoleya'' Johnnie Minix * ''Rhynchobrassoleya'' Billingtonii * ''Rhynchobrassoleya'' Lipolani * ''Rhynchobrassoleya'' Petcharatana Green Sherbet * ''Rhynchobrassoleya'' Verdad Sencilla * ''Rhynchobrassoleya'' Choroni * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Frill Seeker * ''Allenblackara'' Hurricane Landfall * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Princess Naurah * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Villa Verde * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Mem. Wilson Vieira * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Aladdin * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Albuana * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Alisun Aloha Dig * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Summer Fantasy * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' La Verne Edwards * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Angel Fringe * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Hamana Soft * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Lester McDonald * ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' Digby Lane

References

Rhyncholaelia digbyana at the Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6107837 digbyana Orchids of Central America Orchids of Belize Orchids of Costa Rica Orchids of Guatemala Orchids of Honduras Orchids of Mexico