''Lepanthes'' (from
Greek "scaled-flower") is a large
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
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.
Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...
s with about 800–1000
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
, distributed in the
Antilles
The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...
and from
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
through
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
(with very few species in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
).
[Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families](_blank)
/ref> The genus is abbreviated in horticultural trade as Lths. Almost all the species in the genus are small and live in cloud forest
A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...
s. Babyboot orchid is a common name.
See also
*''Draconanthes
''Draconanthes'' (from Greek, "dragon flower") is a genus of orchids, comprising two species. These have rigid, fleshy sepals and fleshy petals with a thick lip, and are borne on successively flowered racemes. One species is endemic to Ecuador, ...
''
* List of ''Lepanthes'' species
* List of the largest genera of flowering plants
References
* (1799) Nova Acta Regiae Societatis Scientiarum Upsaliensis 6: 85, f. 6.
* (2006) Epidendroideae (Part One). Genera Orchidacearum 4: 362 ff. Oxford University Press.
* (2009) Icones Pleurothallidinarum XXX. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 115: 1-265.
External links
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1955302
Pleurothallidinae genera
Taxa named by Olof Swartz