''Sarcanthopsis'', commonly known as goliath orchids, is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of six species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s from the orchid family,

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family (biology), family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan plants that ...

. Plants in this genus are large

epiphyte 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 ...

s or

lithophyte Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. They can be classified as either epilithic (or epipetric) or endolithic; epilithic lithophytes grow on the surfaces of rocks, while endolithic lithophytes grow in the crevices of rocks (and are als ...

s with long, thick, leathery stems, large, crowded leathery leaves and many yellowish flowers on a branched flowering stem. Orchids in this genus occur in

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 ...

and islands of the south-west

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

Description

Orchids in the ''Sarcanthopsis'' are large epiphytic or lithophytic

monopodial Vascular plants with monopodial growth habits grow upward from a single point. They add leaves to the apex each year and the stem grows longer accordingly. The word ''Monopodial'' is derived from Greek language, Greek '', ''one'' and '', "foot", in ...

plants Plants are the eukaryotes that form the kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria to produce sugars f ...

with smooth leaves and stems up to long. A large number of leathery oblong leaves folded lengthwise have their bases wrapped around the stem. Yellowish

resupinate Resupination is derived from the Latin word ''resupinus'', meaning "bent back with the face upward" or "on the back". "Resupination" is the noun form of the adjective "resupine" which means "being upside-down, supine or facing upward". The word " ...

flowers with brown spots, in diameter are arranged on a branching flowering stem and face in many different directions. The

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 are free from and similar to each other in size and shape. The labellum is rigidly fixed to the

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

and has three lobes, a concave upper "hypochile" and lower "epichile" and a sharp bend in its middle.

Taxonomy and naming

The genus ''Sarcanthopsis'' was first formally described in 1972 by

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 the description was published in Harvard University ''Botanical Museum Leaflets''. The name ''Sarcanthopsis'' refers to the similarity of orchids in this genus to those in the genus ''Sarcanthus'', now known as ''

Cleisostoma ''Cleisostoma'' is a genus of orchids with approximately 90 accepted species widely distributed through much of the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, China, New Guinea, and some of the islands of the Western Pacific. The orchid abbreviation ...

''. The ending ''-opsis'' is an

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

meaning "having the appearance of" or "like". Species list The following is a list of species of ''Sarcanthopsis'' accepted by the

World Checklist of Selected Plant Families The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (usually abbreviated to WCSP) was an "international collaborative programme that provides the latest peer reviewed and published opinions on the accepted scientific names and synonyms of selected p ...

as at December 2018: * '' Sarcanthopsis chalmersiana'' ( F.Muell. & Kraenzl.) Ormerod – Papua New Guinea * '' Sarcanthopsis hansemannii'' (Kraenzl.) J.J.Wood & Ormerod - New Ireland * '' Sarcanthopsis nagarensis'' ( Rchb.f.) Garay - Fiji, Santa Cruz Islands, Wallis & Futuna * '' Sarcanthopsis quaifei'' ( Rolfe) Garay - New Caledonia, Vanuatu * '' Sarcanthopsis warocqueana'' (Rolfe) Garay - Papua New Guinea * '' Sarcanthopsis woodfordii'' (Rolfe) Garay - Solomon Islands

Distribution

Orchids in this genus are found in the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about . History The first inhabitants of the archipela ...

, the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

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 ...

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

, the

Santa Cruz Islands The Santa Cruz Islands form an archipelago in Temotu Province, Solomon Islands. They lie approximately to the southeast of the Solomon Islands (archipelago), Solomon Islands archipelago, just north of the archipelago of Vanuatu and are con ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

and the

Wallis and Futuna Islands Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands (), is a French island collectivity in the South Pacific, situated between Tuvalu to the northwest, Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast, Samoa to the eas ...

. A single juvenile plant of '' Sarcanthopsis warocqueana'' has been seen on Moa Island,

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

in the

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes ( Kalaw Lagaw Ya#Phonology 2, �zen̪ad̪ kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, ...

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q7423532 Vandeae genera Aeridinae Taxa named by Leslie Andrew Garay

Description

Taxonomy and naming

Distribution

See also

References

External links