''Stanhopea'' is a genus of 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 ...

) from Central and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. The abbreviation used in horticultural trade is ''Stan.'' The genus is named for the 4th Earl of Stanhope (Philip Henry Stanhope) (1781-1855), president of the Medico-Botanical Society of London (1829-1837). It comprises 55 species and 5 natural hybrids. These

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 ...

, but occasionally terrestrial orchids can be found in damp forests from

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 ...

to Trinidad to NW

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> Their ovate

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 carry from the top one long, plicate, elliptic

leaf A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leav ...

. ''Stanhopea'' is noted for its complex and usually fragrant

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s that are generally spectacular and short-lived. Their pendant

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 are noted for flowering out of the bottom of the containers in which they grow, lending themselves to culture in baskets that have enough open space for the inflorescence to push through. They are sometimes called upside-down orchids. The majority of species are robust plants that grow readily in cultivation. For relatives of ''Stanhopea'' see

Stanhopeinae Stanhopeinae is a subtribe of plants in the tribe Cymbidieae. The subtribe in the strict sense, have viscidia and stipes that are thin and strap-like, they are adapted for attachment to edge of the bee's scutellum or to a leg. Pseudobulbs are us ...

and the closely related sister subtribe

Coeliopsidinae Coeliopsidinae is an orchid subtribe in the tribe Cymbidieae. The three members of this subtribe have traditionally been lumped in with Stanhopeinae, but obvious morphological traits and new molecular analysis by Whitten et al. in 2000 confirmed ...

Description

Most ''Stanhopea'' flowers flash prominent, elegant horns on the epichile. The exception are the species; '' S. annulata'', '' S. avicula'', '' S. cirrhata'', '' S. ecornuta'' and '' S. pulla''. A second group have short or truncated horns, they include the species; '' S. candida'', '' S. grandiflora'', '' S. reichenbachiana'', '' S. tricornis'' and the natural hybrid '' S. x herrenhusana''. The structure of the labellum of this group is in general, not as complex as other members of the genus. With most ''Stanhopea'' flowers lasting three days or less, the flowers must attract pollinators very quickly. These chemical attractants are generated in the hypochile, attracting the male euglossine bees to the flower. These male euglossine bees are known to be important pollinators of ''Stanhopea'' flowers, collecting fragrances at these flowers over their lifetime and storing them in their hind tibia. Bees in the Euglossini tribe, including ''

Eulaema meriana ''Eulaema meriana'' is a large-bodied bee species in the tribe Euglossini, otherwise known as the orchid bees. The species is a Bee#Solitary and communal bees, solitary bee and is native to tropical Central and South America. The male collects fr ...

'', are known to pollinate these flowers supposedly because the orchids can deceptively mimic the form of a female and her sex pheromone. When the bee touches down on the flower, a great effort is made to collect chemical scent - he eventually slides on the waxy surface of the hypochile, gliding down on the slippery lip to exit the flower. The long

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 ...

is touched in the process, resulting in the bee taking up

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 ...

at the very tip of the column. When the bee slides down another flower, the pollinia are deposited on the sticky surface of the stigma.

Species

*'' Stanhopea aliceae'' Pérez-García, Chiron & Szlach. (Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea anfracta'' Rolfe (SE. Ecuador to Bolivia) *'' Stanhopea annulata'' Mansf. (S. Colombia to Ecuador) *'' Stanhopea avicula'' Dressler (Panama) *'' Stanhopea bueraremensis'' Campacci & Marçal (E. Brazil) *'' Stanhopea candida'' Barb.Rodr. (S. Trop. America) *'' Stanhopea cephalopodaa'' Archila, Pérez-García, Chiron & Szlach. (Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea chironii'' Archila, Pérez-García & Szlach. (Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea cirrhata'' Lindl. (C. America) *'' Stanhopea confusa'' G.Gerlach & Beeche (C. America) *'' Stanhopea connata'' Klotzsch (Colombia to Peru) *'' Stanhopea costaricensis'' Rchb.f. (C. America) *'' Stanhopea deltoidea'' Lem. (Peru to Bolivia) *'' Stanhopea dodsoniana'' Salazar & Soto Arenas (NC. & S. Mexico to Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea ecornuta'' Lem. (C. America) *'' Stanhopea embreei'' Dodson (Ecuador) *'' Stanhopea florida'' Rchb.f. (Ecuador to Peru) *'' Stanhopea fonsecae'' Archila, Pérez-García, Chiron & Szlach. (Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea frymirei'' Dodson (Ecuador) *'' Stanhopea gibbosa'' Rchb.f. (= S. carchiensis, = S. impressa; S Colombia to Ecuador) *'' Stanhopea grandiflora'' Lindl. (Trinidad to S. Trop. America) *'' Stanhopea graveolens'' Lindl.(Mexico to C. America, Brazil to NW. Argentina) *'' Stanhopea greeri'' Jenny (Peru) *'' Stanhopea guttulata'' Lindl. (SE. Brazil) *'' Stanhopea haseloffiana'' Rchb.f. (N. Peru) *'' Stanhopea hernandezii'' (Kunth) Schltr. (C. & SW. Mexico) *'' Stanhopea insignis'' J.Frost ex Hook. (SE. & S. Brazil) *'' Stanhopea intermedia'' Klinge (SW. Mexico) *'' Stanhopea javieri'' Archila, Pérez-García, Chiron & Szlach. (Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea jenischiana'' F.Kramer ex Rchb.f.(Colombia to NW. Venezuela and S. Ecuador) *'' Stanhopea lietzei'' (Regel) Schltr. (E. & S. Brazil) *'' Stanhopea macrocornata'' Archila, Pérez-García, Chiron & Szlach. (Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea maculosa'' Knowles & Westc. (W. Mexico) *'' Stanhopea madouxiana'' Cogn. (Colombia) *'' Stanhopea maduroi'' Dodson & Dressler (Panama to N.Colombia) *'' Stanhopea manriqueii'' Jenny & Nauray (Peru) *'' Stanhopea marizana'' Jenny (Peru) *'' Stanhopea martiana'' Bateman ex Lindl. (SW. Mexico) *'' Stanhopea marylenae'' Archila, Chiron & Pérez-García (Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea moliana'' Rolfe (Peru) *'' Stanhopea napoensis'' Dodson (Ecuador) *'' Stanhopea naurayi'' Jenny (Peru) *'' Stanhopea nicaraguensis'' G.Gerlach (Nicaragua) *'' Stanhopea nigripes'' Rolfe (Peru) *'' Stanhopea novogaliciana'' S.Rosillo (Mexico - Nayarit, Jalisco) *'' Stanhopea oculata'' (Lodd.)Lindl. (Mexico to Colombia, SE. Brazil) *'' Stanhopea oscarrodrigoi'' Archila, Pérez-García, Chiron & Szlach. (Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea ospinae'' Dodson (Colombia) *'' Stanhopea panamensis'' N.H.Williams & W.M.Whitten (Panama) *'' Stanhopea peruviana'' Rolfe (Peru) *'' Stanhopea platyceras'' Rchb.f. (Colombia) *'' Stanhopea posadae'' Jenny et Braem (Colombia) *'' Stanhopea pozoi'' Dodson & D.E.Benn. (S. Ecuador) *'' Stanhopea pseudoradiosa'' Jenny & R.Gonzalez (SW. Mexico) *'' Stanhopea pulla'' Rchb.f. (Costa Rica to N. Colombia) *'' Stanhopea radiosa'' Lem. (W. Mexico) *'' Stanhopea reichenbachiana'' Roezl ex Rchb.f. (Colombia) *'' Stanhopea rubroatrata'' Archila, Pérez-García, Chiron & Szlach. (Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea rubromaculata'' Archila, Pérez-García, Chiron & Szlach. (Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea ruckeri'' Lindl. (= S. inodora; Mexico to C. America) *'' Stanhopea saccata'' Bateman (Mexico - Chiapas to C. America) *'' Stanhopea saintexuperyi'' Archila, Pérez-García, Chiron & Szlach. (Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea schilleriana'' Rchb.f. (Colombia) *'' Stanhopea shuttleworthii'' Rchb.f. (Colombia) *'' Stanhopea stevensonii'' A.Mejia & R.Escobar ex Jenny (Colombia) *'' Stanhopea szlachetkoana'' Archila, Pérez-García & Chiron (Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea tigrina'' Bateman ex Lindl. (Mexico) *'' Stanhopea tolimensis'' G.Gerlach (Colombia) *'' Stanhopea tricornis'' Lindl. (W. South America) *'' Stanhopea victoriana'' Archila, Pérez-García, Chiron & Szlach. (Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea wardii'' Lodd. ex Lindl. (Nicaragua to Venezuela) *'' Stanhopea warszewicziana'' Klotzsch (Costa Rica) *'' Stanhopea whittenii'' Soto Arenas, Salazar & G.Gerlach (Mexico to Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea xanthoviridea'' Archila, Pérez-García, Chiron & Szlach. (Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea xytriophora'' Rchb.f. (S. Peru to Bolivia)

Natural hybrids

*'' Stanhopea × fowlieana'' Jenny (''S. costaricensis'' × ''S. ecornuta'') (Costa Rica) *'' Stanhopea × herrenhusana'' Jenny (''S. reichenbachiana'' × ''S. tricornis'') (Colombia) *'' Stanhopea × horichiana'' Jenny (''S. ecornuta'' × ''S. wardii'') (Costa Rica) *'' Stanhopea × lewisae'' Ames & Correll (''S. ecornuta'' × ''S. inodora'') (Guatemala) *'' Stanhopea × quadricornis'' Lindl. (''S. grandflora'' × ''S. wardii'') (Colombia) *'' Stanhopea × thienii'' Dodson (''S. annulata'' × ''S. impressa'') (Ecuador)

Intergeneric hybrids

*× ''Aciopea'' (''Acineta'' × ''Stanhopea''). ''Aciopea Guillermo'' Gaviria (''Acineta erythroxantha'' × ''Stanhopea wardii'') was registered Nov-Dec 2004 by Guillermo Gaviria-Correa (Colombia). **× ''Aciopea'' is abbreviated Aip. *× ''Cirrhopea'' (''Cirrhaea'' × ''Stanhopea'') *× ''Coryhopea'' (''Coryanthes'' × ''Stanhopea'') *× ''Stangora'' (''Gongora'' × ''Stanhopea'') *× ''Stanhocycnis'' (''Polycycnis'' × ''Stanhopea'')

Gallery

Species

Image:Stanhopea anfracta Orchi 001.jpg, ''Stanhopea anfracta'' Image:Stanhopea annulata Orchi 001.jpg, ''Stanhopea annulata'' Image:Stanhopea candida Orchi 001.jpg, ''Stanhopea candida'' Image:Stanhopea cirrhata Orchi 001.jpg, ''Stanhopea cirrhata'' Image:Stanhopea connata Orchi 001.jpg, ''Stanhopea connata'' Image:Stanhopea costaricensis - Curtis 146 (ser, 4 no. 16) pl. 8830 (1920).jpg, ''Stanhopea costaricensis'' Image:Stanhopea ecornuta Orchi 001.jpg, ''Stanhopea ecornuta'' Image:Stanhopea embreei Orchi 001.jpg, ''Stanhopea embreei'' Image:Stanhopea grandiflora - fl 2.jpg, ''Stanhopea grandiflora''

Natural hybrids

Image:Stanhopea x horichiana Orchi 01.jpg, ''Stanhopea × horichiana''

References

* Gerlach, G. & Beeche, J. 2004: Stanhopeinae Mesoamericanae III (Orchidaceae). Reestablecimiento de Stanhopea ruckeri y una especie nueva: Stanhopea confusa. Lankesteriana 4(3): 213–222. * Gerlach, G. 2010: Stanhopeinae Mesoamericanae V: El aroma floral de las Stanhopeas de Mexico. Lankesteriana 9(3): 431–442. * Rudolf Jenny (December 1993) "The Genus ''Stanhopea''," in: Orchids 62(12):1270-1277 * Rudolf Jenny (December 2003) "The Genus ''Stanhopea''. Part 1: ''S. anfracta'' to ''S. napoensis''," in: Caesiana no. 21, Supplement. 200 color photos, 160 p. * Jenny, R. (2004) "The genus ''Stanhopea'': 2nd part, ''S. nigripes'' to ''S. xytriophora''" Caesiana no. 22: 146–291. * (in German)

External links

* *
Photo collections of ''Stanhopea'' from Botanical Garden Munich.

The ''Stanhopea'' Pages website by Nina Rach

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2719974 Stanhopeinae genera Epiphytic orchids