''Eulophia pulchra'', commonly known as the gonzo orchid, is a plant in the orchid family and is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to areas from Tanzania and Mozambique to the Western Pacific Ocean. It is a terrestrial orchid with crowded, above-ground pseudobulbs, two or three leaves and pale yellowish green flowers with dull purple or red markings. It grows in plant litter in rainforests.

Description

''Eulophia pulchra'' is a terrestrial

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

with fleshy, crowded, above-ground pseudobulbs long and wide. There are two or three dark green leaves long and wide with three main veins. Between six and twenty pale greenish yellow flowers with dull purple or reddish markings, long are borne on a flowering stem long. The sepals are long, about wide and 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 long, about wide. The labellum is white, more or less circular, long, wide and is sometimes lobed. Flowering occurs between April and June in Australia, between October and December in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and December to February in Africa. The species in Australia is reported to be

self-pollinating Self-pollination is a form of pollination in which pollen from the same plant arrives at the stigma of a flower (in flowering plants) or at the ovule (in gymnosperms). There are two types of self-pollination: in autogamy, pollen is transferred to ...

and the flowers to barely open.

Taxonomy and naming

The gonzo orchid was first formally described in 1822 by Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars who gave it the name ''Limodorum pulchrum''. The description was published in ''Histoire particuliere des plantes Orchidees recueillies sur les trois iles Australes D'Afrique''. In 1840,

John Lindley John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...

changed the name to ''Eulophia pulchra''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''pulchra'') is a Latin word meaning “beautiful", "pretty", "fine" or "lovely". A study of the molecular phylogeny of the subtribe

Eulophiinae Eulophiinae is an orchid subtribe in the tribe Cymbidieae. It comprises 270 species divided into nine genera, with the genus ''Eulophia'' comprising 60% of these species. See also * Taxonomy of the Orchidaceae The taxonomy of the Orchidaceae ...

published in 2014 considered that this species was more closely allied with the genus ''Oeceoclades'', but the move has not been accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families and the name ''Oeceoclades pulchra'' is regarded as 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 ...

.Martos, F., S. D. Johnson, C. I. Peter, and B. Bytebier. 2014. A molecular phylogeny reveals paraphyly of the large genus ''Eulophia'' (Orchidaceae): A case for the reinstatement of ''Orthochilus''. ''Taxon'' 63: 9-23.

Distribution and habitat

''Eulophia pulchra'' grows in leaf litter in rainforests. It occurs in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, India, Taiwan, Cambodia, Indonesia,

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, Malaysia, New Guinea, the Philippines,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, Thailand, Vietnam, the

Mascarene Islands The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of the islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Thei ...

, tropical north Queensland and some islands in the western Pacific Ocean.

References

{{Taxonbar, from= Q5409489 pulchra Plants described in 1822 Orchids of Tanzania Orchids of Madagascar Orchids of India Orchids of Taiwan Orchids of Cambodia Orchids of Indonesia Orchids of Laos Orchids of Malaysia Orchids of the Philippines Orchids of Sri Lanka Orchids of Thailand Orchids of Vietnam Orchids of Queensland