''Renanthera caloptera'' is a species in the family

Orchidaceae 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 ...

. It was formerly the only species in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

genus ''Ascoglossum'', abbreviated Ascgm in the horticultural trade. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Dinagat Island Dinagat Island is an island located northeast of Mindanao in the Philippines. Until December 2006, it was part of the province of Surigao del Norte Surigao del Norte ( Surigaonon: ''Probinsya nan Surigao del Norte''; ceb, Amihanang Surigao; ...

in the southern

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and is critically endangered by collection as an ornamental plant and habitat loss. Its flowers are a vivid purple.

Taxonomy

''Renanthera caloptera'' was described in 1882 by

Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach (Dresden, 3 January 1823 – Hamburg, 6 May 1889) was a botanist and the foremost German orchidologist of the 19th century. His father Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach (author of ''Icones Florae Germanicae et Helv ...

as ''Saccolabium calopterum''. Its name was subsequently changed to ''Ascoglossum caloptera'' by Rudolf Schlecter. Finally, based on research published by Alexander Kocyan & Andre Schuiteman, its name was changed to ''Renanthera caloptera''.

Horticulture

The Royal Horticultural Society uses ''Renanthera caloptera'' for hybrid registration purposes. Before that 2014 taxonomic revision, ''Ascoglossum'' formed several different intergeneric hybrids (nothogenera): Orchid hybrids are registered with The International Register at the Royal Horticultural Society. One primary hybrid was originated and registered by A.Kolopaking in 1989 as ''Renanthoglossum'' Nina Rach (). As of 2014, this is classified as Renanthera Nina Rach.

References

caloptera Epiphytic orchids Endemic orchids of the Philippines Critically endangered flora of Asia Flora of Mindanao Species endangered by the pet trade Species endangered by logging Species endangered by slash-and-burn Species endangered by urbanization Species endangered by habitat fragmentation Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Vandeae-stub