''Kefersteinia'' 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 ...

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 ...

. It has about 40-50 species, widespread across much of Latin America.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> The genus was named for Keferstein of

Kröllwitz Kröllwitz is a village and locality (''Ortsteil'') in the West borough (''Stadtbezirk West'') of Halle (Saale). It is located in the German state Saxony-Anhalt. Geography The center of Kröllwitz is located on a hill. There is the Petruskirche ...

, an orchidologist.

Description

Plants of the genus are small

sympodial In botany, sympodial growth is a bifurcating branching pattern where one branch develops more strongly than the other, resulting in the stronger branches forming the primary shoot and the weaker branches appearing laterally. A sympodium, als ...

orchids closely related to ''

Chondrorhyncha ''Chondrorhyncha'' is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. At the present time 7 species are recognized, though many more names have been proposed. All species are native to Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. #'' Chondr ...

'', growing tall. Orchids have a long or short rhizome and lack

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. Linear to

lanceolate The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...

leaves form a fan shape, articulated to a sheath at their base. Single flowered

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 rise from the base or between leaves, often multiple at a time. Flowers are thin and translucent, with similar petals and sepals. The lip is broad and articulated 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 ...

foot. The column is stout and keeled on the underside. Flowers have four

pollinia A pollinium (: pollinia) is a coherent mass of pollen grains in a plant that are the product of only one anther, but are transferred, during pollination, as a single unit. This is regularly seen in plants such as orchids and many species of milkwee ...

Distribution and habitat

Most species grow in the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

mountains of

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, in shady, humid conditions. Most are

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 ...

though some grow terrestrially in

humus In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...

or moss.

Ecology

Most flowers of the genus are pollinated by euglossine bees attracted by the flowers' fragrance. The hump of the lip forces bees to enter the flower from the side and

are attached to the base of the bees antennae.

Species

References

External links