''Acriopsis javanica'' is a species of orchid that is native to Southeast Asia, New Guinea, some Pacific islands and northern Australia. It is a clump-forming

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a 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 epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

with dark green leaves and curved, branching flower stems with many white and cream-coloured flowers with purple markings.

Description

''Acriopsis javanica'' is an epiphyte with pseudobulbs long and wide. Each pseudobulb has three or four linear leaves long and wide on a petiole long. From 12 to 300 white and cream-coloured flowers with purple markings are borne on each flowering stem, the stems long. The flowers are wide, apart on a pedicel long and have a three-lobed labellum. The dorsal sepal is long, wide and the lateral sepals are fused to form a synsepalum long and wide below the labellum. The

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s are oblong to egg-shaped, long and wide. The labellum is long, about wide and has three lobes.

Taxonomy and naming

The genus ''Acriopsis'' was first formally described in 1825 by Carl Ludwig Blume from an unpublished description by Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt and Blume's description was published in his book ''Bijdragen tot de Flora van Nederlandsch Indie''. In the same volume, Blume described ''Acriopsis javanica''. The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families considers ''A. javanica'' to be a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of '' A. liliifolia'' var. ''liliifolia''.

Distribution and habitat

''Acriopsis javanica'' mainly grows in rainforest and coastal swamp forest, sometimes on ''

Melaleuca leucadendron ''Melaleuca leucadendra'', commonly known as weeping paperbark, long-leaved paperbark or white paperbark is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is widespread in northern Australia, Southeast Asia, New Guinea and the Torres Strait Is ...

'' and ''

Pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with some 750 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. The greatest number of species are found in Madagascar and Malaysia. Common names ...

'' species. It is found from Vietnam to New Guinea, including Singapore, Indonesia and som Pacific Islands and on the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, as far south as the

Daintree River The Daintree River is a river that rises in the Daintree Rainforest near Cape Tribulation in Far North Queensland, Australia. The river is located about northwest of Cairns in the UNESCO World Heritagelisted Wet Tropics of Queensland. The are ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q104841317 Orchids of Asia Epiphytic orchids Cymbidiinae Plants described in 1825 Taxa named by Carl Ludwig Blume