Tropidia (plant)

''Tropidia'', commonly known as crown orchids, is a genus of about thirty species of evergreen terrestrial orchids in the family Orchidaceae. They have thin, wiry stems with two or more tough, pleated leaves with a flowering spike at the top of the stem, bearing crowded flowers. Species in this genus are distributed across the warmer parts of both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

Description

Orchids in the genus ''Tropidia'' are evergreen, terrestrial, sometimes mycotrophic herbs which form small clumps. They have thin, wiry stems, sometimes with a few branches. The stems have two or more thin, tough, pleated, lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves. Crowded white, greenish or brown, sometimes resupinate flowers are arranged on the top of the stem and have the sepals and petals free from each other, or with the lateral sepals joined and surrounding the base of the labellum. The labellum is not lobed but has a pouch or spur at its base.

Taxonomy and naming

The genus ''Tropidia'' was first formally described in 1833 by John Lindley and the description was published in '' Edwards's Botanical Register''. The name ''Tropidia'' is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''tropidos'' or ''tropideion'' meaning "keel", referring to the boat-shaped labellum of some species in this genus.

Distribution and habitat

Species in the genus ''Tropidium'' grow in deep shade in evergreen monsoon forests and are native to China, Japan, the Indian Subcontinent, Indonesia, Indochina, Philippines, New Guinea, Australia, Latin America (from Mexico to Ecuador), the West Indies, Florida, and some Pacific Islands including the Solomons, Fiji, New Caledonia, the Galápagos and Vanuatu.

Species

The following is a list of species of ''Tropidia'' recognised by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families as at October 2018:

* ''Tropidia acuminata'' Schltr. - New Guinea
* ''Tropidia angulosa'' (Lindl.) Blume - Guangxi, Taiwan, Tibet, Yunnan, Bhutan, India, Assam, Bangladesh, Java, Sumatra, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam
* '' Tropidia angustifolia'' C.L.Yeh & C.S.Leou - Taiwan
* ''Tropidia bambusifolia'' ( Thwaites) Trimen - southern India, Sri Lanka, Andaman Islands
* '' Tropidia connata'' J.J.Wood & A.L.Lamb - Sabah
* '' Tropidia corymbioides'' Schltr. - New Guinea
* '' Tropidia curculigoides'' Lindl. - widespread across southern China, the Himalayas, the Andaman Islands, Indochina, much of Indonesia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, and the Northern Territory of Australia
* '' Tropidia disticha'' Schltr. - New Guinea, Solomons, Bismarcks
* ''Tropidia effusa'' Rchb.f. - Fiji, Samoa
* ''Tropidia emeishanica'' K.Y.Lang - Sichuan
* '' Tropidia formosana'' Rolfe ex Hemsl.
* '' Tropidia gracilis'' Schltr. - New Guinea
* ''Tropidia hegderaoi'' S.Misra
* '' Tropidia janowskyi'' J.J.Sm. - New Guinea
* '' Tropidia mindanaensis'' Ames - Mindanao
* ''Tropidia mindorensis'' Ames - Mindoro
* ''Tropidia multiflora'' J.J.Sm. - Sumba
* '' Tropidia multinervis'' Schltr. - New Guinea
* '' Tropidia namasiae'' C.K.Liao, T.P.Lin & M.S.Tang.
* '' Tropidia nipponica'' Masam. - Japan, Taiwan, Ryukyu Islands
** ''Tropidia nipponica'' var. ''hachijoensis'' F.Maek. & Yokota
** ''Tropidia nipponica'' var. ''nipponica''
* '' Tropidia pedunculata'' Blume - widespread from the western Himalayas to New Guinea, including Indochina, Malaysia, Philippines and much of Indonesia
* '' Tropidia polystachya'' (Sw.) Ames - Florida, Mexico, Central America, West Indies (including Bahamas and Cayman Islands), Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador (including Galápagos)
* '' Tropidia ramosa'' J.J.Sm. - New Guinea
* '' Tropidia reichenbachiana'' Kraenzl. - Maluku
* '' Tropidia robinsonii'' Ames - Luzon
* ''Tropidia saprophytica'' J.J.Sm. - Borneo
* ''Tropidia schlechteriana'' J.J.Sm. - Maluku
* '' Tropidia septemnervis'' ( Schauer) Rchb.f. - Philippines
* ''Tropidia similis'' Schltr. - New Guinea
* '' Tropidia somae'' Hayata - Taiwan, Ryukyu Islands, possibly Philippines
* ''Tropidia territorialis'' D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem. - Northern Territory of Australia
* '' Tropidia triloba'' J.J.Sm. - New Guinea
* '' Tropidia viridifusca'' Kraenzl. - Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island

References

External links

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US Department of Agriculture plants profile, ''Tropidia polystachya'' (Sw.) Ames young palm orchid

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2670134

Tropidieae genera