''Trichocentrum'', often abbreviated Trctm in

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

, 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 ...

in the

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 ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

, Orchidaceae. Dancinglady orchid is a common name for plants in this genus. It was described by

Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher also known as Endlicher István László (24 June 1804, Bratislava (Pozsony) – 28 March 1849, Vienna) was an Austrian botanist, numismatist and Sinologist. He was a director of the Botanical Garden of Vienna. B ...

and

Eduard Friedrich Poeppig Eduard Friedrich Poeppig (16 July 1798 – 4 September 1868) was a German botanist, zoologist and explorer. Biography Poeppig was born in Plauen, Saxony. He studied medicine and natural history at the University of Leipzig, graduating with a med ...

in 1836. This genus alone makes up the monogeneric Trichocentrum alliance, a quite distinct lineage of the

subtribe Subtribe is a taxonomic category ranking which is below the rank of tribe and above genus. The standard suffix for a subtribe is -ina (in animals) or -inae (in plants Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plant ...

Oncidiinae The Oncidiinae is a subtribe within the Orchidaceae that consists of a number of genera that are closely related. This subtribe consists of about 70 genera with over 1000 species, with '' Oncidium'' as its largest genus. These genera consist of ...

. The 68 currently recognized species are

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 ...

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 ...

are distributed in damp forests 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 ...

and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>

Description

The pseudobulbs are reduced. The obtuse, fleshy

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are 9 cm long. They are broadly elliptic to ovate-lanceolate. The large, showy

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s grow basally on a short peduncle in a single-flowered to few-flowered

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

. They are white, or white covered with maroon dots. 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 and

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are similar. The long lip carries a short spur. This feature distinguishes the genus from other

, in which the spur is an extension of the

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. ...

. The short column has a pair of apical wings on the stigma. The

anther The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

often bears minute

papilla Papilla (Latin, 'nipple') or papillae may refer to: In animals * Papilla (fish anatomy), in the mouth of fish * Basilar papilla, a sensory organ of lizards, amphibians and fish * Dental papilla, in a developing tooth * Dermal papillae, part of ...

e. There are two waxy pollinia, connected to elongate stipes.

In horticulture

''Trichocentrum'' species are highly appreciated by orchid growers; some consider them to be among the most beautiful orchids on earth. Culture of members of this genus is highly variable, ranging from the drought-tolerant and easy-to-grow Tiger-like Trichocentrum ('' T. tigrinum'') to smaller and more delicate species. In cultivation they are subject to rot unless provided with conditions similar to those they experience in the wild. Extensive research into the ecological profiles of individual species may be required to achieve success cultivating them. Many species from Central America apparently endure a prolonged drought for at least part of the year, and have developed

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

leaves to deal with these conditions. Plants may shrivel quite severely without long-lasting injury.

Chemistry and use as entheogen

The Central and South American species '' Trichocentrum cebolleta'' (known formerly as ''Oncidium cebolleta'') has been found to contain a variety of phenanthrenoids. This species is of considerable ethnobotanical interest as one of only a handful of orchids reported to be used as an entheogens. ''T. cebolleta'' is used as a substitute for ''hikuli'' a.k.a. ''peyote'' (the hallucinogenic

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

Lophophora williamsii The peyote (; ''Lophophora williamsii'' ) is a small, spineless cactus which contains psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. ''Peyote'' is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl (), meaning "caterpillar cocoon", from a root , "to gl ...

'') by the Tarahumara of Northern

- a tribe noted for the large number of hallucinogenic plants which it uses in various

shamanic Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

and

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

-related practices. The combination of phenanthrenoid content and employment as entheogens in shamanic practices is to be found also in the Asiatic orchids ''

Vanda tessellata ''Vanda tessellata'' (also known as Grey orchid or Checkered Vanda) is a species of orchid occurring from the Indian subcontinent to Indochina. It is a medicinal plant. Description It is an epiphytic perennial, stem 30–60 cm long, stout ...

'' and '' Dendrobium macraei'' (- known formerly as ''Ephemerantha macraei'' and ''Flickingeria macraei'' - see page ''

Flickingeria ''Dendrobium'' is a genus of mostly epiphytic and lithophytic orchids in the family Orchidaceae. It is a very large genus, containing more than 1,800 species that are found in diverse habitats throughout much of south, east and southeast Asia, i ...

''). The orchidaceous genera ''Trichocentrum'', '' Vanda'' and '' Dendrobium'' are all members of the subfamily '' Epidendroideae'' and are also placed currently in the subgroup/clade of Higher Epidendroids within the subfamily. Stermitz et al., however, do not report any evidence or suggest that the phenanthrenoids from ''Trichocentrum'' possess psychoactive properties.

Systematics

There is disagreement as to the

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

status of some species that have recently been moved from ''

Oncidium ''Oncidium'', abbreviated as Onc. in the horticultural trade, is a genus that contains about 330 species of orchids from the subtribe Oncidiinae of the orchid family (Orchidaceae). As presently conceived (May 2014), it is distributed across much ...

'' to ''Trichocentrum''. Morphological characteristics of "typical" trichocentrums, such as being relatively small and squat with a short, few-to-several flowered inflorescence, contrasts sharply with the larger, heavier oncidiums with long, "mule-ear" leaves and showy, branched inflorescences with many flowers, or the "rat-tail" species with terete leaves. While studies of molecular phylogeny has caused substantial reclassifications,Williams et al. (2001) it is uncertain whether this new scheme will be widely adopted. As with many plants,

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

isation might heavily confound cladistic analyses, though the exact extent is unknown. Hybridisation of ''Trichocentrum'' with ''Oncidium'' has resulted in the hybrid genus × ''Trichocidium'' for example, and similar events in the past would result in unrealistic assessments of relationship based on molecular phylogenetic studies with too limited a scope.

Species

A and B Larsen orchids - Trichocentrum tigrinum 152-22

# '' Trichocentrum aguirrei'' (Colombia) # '' Trichocentrum albococcineum'' – White-scarlet Trichocentrum (N Brazil to Peru) # '' Trichocentrum ascendens'' (Mexico to W South America) # '' Trichocentrum aurisasinorum'' (Central America) # '' Trichocentrum bicallosum'' (Oaxaca, Chiapas to Central America) # '' Trichocentrum brachyceras'' (Colombia) # ''

Trichocentrum brevicalcaratum ''Trichocentrum'', often abbreviated Trctm in horticulture, is a genus in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Dancinglady orchid is a common name for plants in this genus. It was described by Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher and Eduard Friedrich Poeppig i ...

'' (Peru) # '' Trichocentrum caloceras'' (Costa Rica) # '' Trichocentrum candidum'' – White Trichocentrum (Veracruz to Chiapas to Central America) # '' Trichocentrum capistratum'' – Halter Trichocentrum (Costa Rica to Venezuela) # '' Trichocentrum carthagenense'' (Caribbean, Mexico to N Brazil) # '' Trichocentrum cavendishianum'' (Mexico to Central America) # '' Trichocentrum cebolleta'' (S Caribbean, Mexico to NE Argentina) # '' Trichocentrum costaricense'' (Costa Rica) # '' Trichocentrum cymbiglossum'' (Costa Rica) # '' Trichocentrum dianthum'' Pupulin & Mora-Retana (Costa Rica) # '' Trichocentrum estrellense'' (Costa Rica) # '' Trichocentrum flavovirens'' (SW Mexico) # '' Trichocentrum fuscum'' – Dark Trichocentrum (S Tropical America) # ''

Trichocentrum haematochilum ''Trichocentrum'', often abbreviated Trctm in horticulture, is a genus in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Dancinglady orchid is a common name for plants in this genus. It was described by Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher and Eduard Friedrich Poeppig i ...

'' (Trinidad) # '' Trichocentrum hartii'' (Venezuela) # '' Trichocentrum hoegei'' (Mexico: Veracruz, Guerrero, Oaxaca) # '' Trichocentrum ionopthalmum'' (N Brazil) # ''

Trichocentrum johnii ''Trichocentrum'', often abbreviated Trctm in horticulture, is a genus in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Dancinglady orchid is a common name for plants in this genus. It was described by Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher and Eduard Friedrich Poeppig i ...

'' (Mexico) # '' Trichocentrum jonesianum'' (Bolivia and Brazil to NE Argentina) # '' Trichocentrum lacerum'' (C. America to Colombia) # '' Trichocentrum lanceanum'' (Trinidad to S Tropical America) # ''

Trichocentrum leeanum ''Trichocentrum'', often abbreviated Trctm in horticulture, is a genus in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Dancinglady orchid is a common name for plants in this genus. It was described by Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher and Eduard Friedrich Poeppig i ...

'' (Colombia) # '' Trichocentrum lindenii'' (Mexico to Guatemala) # '' Trichocentrum longicalcaratum'' Rolfe # ''

Trichocentrum lowii ''Trichocentrum'', often abbreviated Trctm in horticulture, is a genus in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Dancinglady orchid is a common name for plants in this genus. It was described by Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher and Eduard Friedrich Poeppig i ...

'' (Guatemala) # '' Trichocentrum luridum'' (Mexico to N South America) # '' Trichocentrum margalegfii'' (SW Mexico) # '' Trichocentrum × marvraganii'' (''T. jonesianum × T. straceyi'') (Bolivia) # '' Trichocentrum mattogrossense'' (Brazil: Mato Grosso) # '' Trichocentrum microchilum'' (Mexico: Chiapas to El Salvador) # '' Trichocentrum morenoi'' (Peru to Bolivia) # '' Trichocentrum nanum'' (S Tropical America) # ''

Trichocentrum neudeckeri ''Trichocentrum'', often abbreviated Trctm in horticulture, is a genus in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Dancinglady orchid is a common name for plants in this genus. It was described by Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher and Eduard Friedrich Poeppig i ...

'' (Bolivia) # '' Trichocentrum nudum'' (Panama to Venezuela) # '' Trichocentrum obcordilabium'' (Ecuador) # '' Trichocentrum oestlundianum'' (SW Mexico) # '' Trichocentrum orthoplectron'' (Colombia to N Brazil) # '' Trichocentrum ostenianum'' (Paraguay) # '' Trichocentrum panduratum'' (N Peru) # '' Trichocentrum pfavii'' : Pfau's Trichocentrum (Central America) # ''

Trichocentrum pinelii ''Trichocentrum'', often abbreviated Trctm in horticulture, is a genus in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Dancinglady orchid is a common name for plants in this genus. It was described by Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher and Eduard Friedrich Poeppig i ...

'' (Brazil: Rio de Janeiro) # '' Trichocentrum pohlianum'' (SE Brazil) # '' Trichocentrum pongratzianum'' (Peru) # '' Trichocentrum popowianum'' (Ecuador) # '' Trichocentrum porphyrio'' (N Brazil) # '' Trichocentrum pulchrum'' – Long-spurred Trichocentrum, Beautiful Trichocentrum (S Tropical America) # '' Trichocentrum pumilum'' (Brazil to NE Argentina) # '' Trichocentrum purpureum'' (Guyana) # '' Trichocentrum recurvum'' (Guiana, Suriname) # '' Trichocentrum silverarum'' (Panama) # ''

Trichocentrum splendidum ''Trichocentrum splendidum'' is a species of orchid endemic to Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west ...

'' (Guatemala) # '' Trichocentrum sprucei'' (Suriname to Brazil) # '' Trichocentrum stacyi'' (Bolivia) # '' Trichocentrum stipitatum'' (Central America) # '' Trichocentrum stramineum'' (Mexico: Veracruz) # '' Trichocentrum teaguei'' (Bolivia) # '' Trichocentrum tenuiflorum'' (NE Brazil) # '' Trichocentrum teres'' (Costa Rica to Panama) # ''

Trichocentrum tigrinum ''Trichocentrum'', often abbreviated Trctm in horticulture, is a genus in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Dancinglady orchid is a common name for plants in this genus. It was described by Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher and Eduard Friedrich Poeppig i ...

'' – Tiger-like Trichocentrum (Central America to Peru) # '' Trichocentrum undulatum'' (S Florida to N Brazil) # '' Trichocentrum viridulum'' (Colombia) # '' Trichocentrum wagneri'' (Brazil) # '' Trichocentrum wittii'' (Bolivia)

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2603797 Oncidiinae genera Epiphytic orchids