''Porroglossum'' (from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

"far off" and "tongue", referring to the position of the lip) is a

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 ...

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 native to the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

of South America. The center of diversity lies in Ecuador, with many of the species endemic to that country, though others are found in Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and Bolivia.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.C. & Rasmussen, F.N. (2006). Epidendroideae (Part One). Genera Orchidacearum 4: 1-672. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford. This genus is abbreviated Prgm in horticultural trade. The lip in this genus is unique in the family. It is hinged and has a mechanism that snaps shut when stimulated by a

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

, thus trapping the

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

to ensure that the

pollinia A pollinium (plural 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 mil ...

will be removed and later transferred to the receptive surface. The lip opens after 30 minutes or so to release the insect, but also closes at night and reopens at dawn. Porroglossum nutibara Orchi 001

Species

Species accepted as of June 2014: #'' Porroglossum actrix'' Luer & R.Escobar #'' Porroglossum adrianae'' Luer & Sijm #'' Porroglossum agile'' Luer #'' Porroglossum amethystinum'' (Rchb.f.) Garay #'' Porroglossum andreettae'' Luer #'' Porroglossum apoloae'' Luer & Sijm #'' Porroglossum aureum'' Luer #'' Porroglossum condylosepalum'' H.R.Sweet #''

Porroglossum dactylum ''Porroglossum'' (from Greek "far off" and "tongue", referring to the position of the lip) is a genus of orchids native to the Andes of South America. The center of diversity lies in Ecuador, with many of the species endemic to that country, tho ...

'' Luer #'' Porroglossum dalstroemii'' Luer #'' Porroglossum dejonghei'' Luer & Sijm #'' Porroglossum dreisei'' Luer & Andreetta #'' Porroglossum echidna'' (Rchb.f.) Garay #'' Porroglossum ecuagenerense'' Luer & Hirtz #'' Porroglossum eduardi'' (Rchb.f.) H.R.Sweet #'' Porroglossum gerritsenianum'' Luer & R.Parsons #'' Porroglossum hirtzii'' Luer #'' Porroglossum hoeijeri'' Luer #'' Porroglossum hystrix'' Luer #'' Porroglossum jesupiae'' Luer #''

Porroglossum josei ''Porroglossum'' (from Greek "far off" and "tongue", referring to the position of the lip) is a genus of orchids native to the Andes of South America. The center of diversity lies in Ecuador, with many of the species endemic to that country, tho ...

'' Luer #''

Porroglossum lorenae ''Porroglossum'' (from Greek "far off" and "tongue", referring to the position of the lip) is a genus of orchids native to the Andes of South America. The center of diversity lies in Ecuador, with many of the species endemic to that country, tho ...

'' Luer #''

Porroglossum lycinum ''Porroglossum'' (from Greek "far off" and "tongue", referring to the position of the lip) is a genus of orchids native to the Andes of South America. The center of diversity lies in Ecuador, with many of the species endemic to that country, tho ...

References

External links

* * Pleurothallidinae genera Pleurothallidinae Orchids of South America {{Epidendreae-stub