''Zootrophion'' (abbreviated ''Zo.'') 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 ...

of 23 known species 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 ...

, native to

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

and the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> The stems have inflated, flattened sheaths. The flowers bear

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 that fuse at their tips to form box-like structures that resemble animal's heads, hence the generic name, which means "menagerie".

Species

References

* (1982) Selbyana 7(1): 80. * (2004) Icones Pleurothallidinarum XXVI. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 95: 1–265. * (2006) Epidendroideae (Part One). Genera Orchidacearum 4: 420 ff. Oxford University Press.

External links

* * Pleurothallidinae Orchids of Central America Orchids of North America Orchids of South America Flora of the Caribbean Pleurothallidinae genera {{Epidendreae-stub