''Sobralia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

orchids 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

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 ...

, Central and

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 sout ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> The plants are more commonly terrestrial, but are also found growing epiphytically, in wet forests from

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

to about 8,800 ft. The genus was named for Dr. Francisco Sobral, a Spanish botanist. The genus is abbreviated Sob in trade journals. Their reed-like stems range in height from about 1 ft (33 cm) (such as in ''Sobralia galeottiana'') to 44 ft. (13.4 m) (in ''Sobralia altissima''). They have typically heavily veined, bilobed, plicate, apical leaves all along the stem. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

s on the apex of the stem carry one or two successive ephemeral

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 with large

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 coine ...

s and petals. The short duration of the flower is caused by a self-digesting

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...

. The

lip The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...

is entire or lobed and clasps the column at its base. This columns carries eight soft

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 ...

. These flowers range in color from pure white to yellow, green, pink, purple, red, brown, and even a blue violet.

Taxonomy

The following species are recognized: * '' Sobralia aerata'' (C.K.Allen & L.O.Williams) Garay * '' Sobralia allenii'' L.O.Williams * '' Sobralia altissima'' D.E.Benn. & Christenson * '' Sobralia amabilis'' (Rchb.f.) L.O.Williams * '' Sobralia anceps'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia andreae'' Dressler * '' Sobralia antioquiensis'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia aspera'' Dressler & Pupulin * '' Sobralia atropubescens'' Ames & C.Schweinf. * '' Sobralia augusta'' Hoehne. * '' Sobralia aurantiaca'' Linden & Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia biflora'' Ruiz & Pav. * '' Sobralia bimaculata'' Garay * '' Sobralia blancoi'' Dressler & Pupulin * '' Sobralia bletiae'' Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia boliviensis'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia buchtienii'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia calliantha'' D.E.Benn. & Christenson * '' Sobralia callosa'' L.O.Williams * '' Sobralia caloglossa'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia candida'' (Poepp. & Endl.) Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia carazoi'' Lank. & Ames * '' Sobralia cardosoi'' Campacci & J.B.F.Silva * '' Sobralia cataractarum'' Hoehne * '' Sobralia cattleya'' Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia chatoensis'' A.H.Heller & A.D.Hawkes * '' Sobralia chrysantha'' Lindl. * '' Sobralia chrysoleuca'' Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia chrysostoma'' Dressler * '' Sobralia ciliata'' (C.Presl) C.Schweinf. ex Foldats * '' Sobralia citrea'' Dressler * '' Sobralia crispissima'' Dressler * '' Sobralia crocea'' (Poepp. & Endl.) Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia decora'' Bateman * '' Sobralia densifoliata'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia dichotoma'' Ruiz & Pav. * '' Sobralia dissimilis'' Dressler * '' Sobralia dorbignyana'' Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia doremiliae'' Dressler * '' Sobralia ecuadorana'' Dodson * '' Sobralia exigua'' Dressler * '' Sobralia exilis'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia fimbriata'' Poepp. & Endl. * '' Sobralia fragilis'' Dressler & Bogarín * '' Sobralia fragrans'' Lindl. * '' Sobralia fruticetorum'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia fuzukiae'' Dressler & Bogarín * '' Sobralia galeottiana'' A.Rich. * '' Sobralia gentryi'' Dodson * '' Sobralia gloriana'' Dressler * '' Sobralia gloriosa'' Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia granitica'' G.A.Romero & Carnevali * '' Sobralia hagsateri'' Dodson * '' Sobralia hawkesii'' A.H.Heller * '' Sobralia helleri'' A.D.Hawkes * '' Sobralia herzogii'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia hirta'' D.E.Benn. & Christenson * '' Sobralia hirtzii'' Dodson * '' Sobralia hoppii'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia imavieirae'' Campacci & J.B.F.Silva * '' Sobralia infundibuligera'' Garay & Dunst. * '' Sobralia kermesina'' Garay * '' Sobralia kerryae'' Dressler * '' Sobralia klotzscheana'' Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia kruskayae'' Dressler * '' Sobralia labiata'' Warsz. & Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia lancea'' Garay * '' Sobralia leucoxantha'' Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia liliastrum'' Lindl. * '' Sobralia lindleyana'' Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia lowii'' Rolfe * '' Sobralia luerorum'' Dodson * '' Sobralia luteola'' Rolfe * '' Sobralia macdougallii'' Soto Arenas Pérez-García & Salazar * '' Sobralia macra'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia macrantha'' Lindl. * '' Sobralia macrophylla'' Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia madisonii'' Dodson * '' Sobralia maduroi'' Dressler * '' Sobralia malmiana'' Pabst * '' Sobralia malmquistiana'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia margaritae'' Pabst * '' Sobralia mariannae'' Dressler * '' Sobralia mucronata'' Ames & C.Schweinf. * '' Sobralia mutisii'' P.Ortiz * '' Sobralia neudeckeri'' Dodson * '' Sobralia nutans'' Dressler * '' Sobralia odorata'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia oliva-estevae'' Carnevali & I.Ramírez * '' Sobralia oroana'' Dodson * '' Sobralia paludosa'' Linden * '' Sobralia paradisiaca'' Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia pardalina'' Garay * '' Sobralia parviflora'' L.O.Williams * '' Sobralia persimilis'' Garay * '' Sobralia pfavii'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia piedadiae'' Dodson * '' Sobralia portillae'' Christenson * '' Sobralia powellii'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia pulcherrima'' Garay * '' Sobralia pumila'' Rolfe * '' Sobralia purpurea'' Dressler * '' Sobralia purpurella'' Dressler & Bogarín * '' Sobralia quinata'' Dressler * '' Sobralia rarae-avis'' Dressler * '' Sobralia recta'' Dressler * '' Sobralia rhizophorae'' Cornejo & Dodson * '' Sobralia rigidissima'' Linden ex Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia roezlii'' Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia rogersiana'' Christenson * '' Sobralia rolfeana'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia rondonii'' Hoehne * '' Sobralia rosea'' Poepp. & Endl. * '' Sobralia roseoalba'' Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia ruckeri'' Linden & Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia ruparupaensis'' D.E.Benn. & Christenson * '' Sobralia rupicola'' Kraenzl. * '' Sobralia sancti-josephi'' Kraenzl. * '' Sobralia sanctorum'' Dressler & Bogarín * '' Sobralia sanfelicis'' Dressler * '' Sobralia schultzei'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia scopulorum'' Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia semperflorens'' Kraenzl. * '' Sobralia setigera'' Poepp. & Endl. * '' Sobralia sobralioides'' (Kraenzl.) Garay * '' Sobralia sororcula'' Dressler * '' Sobralia sotoana'' Dressler & Bogarín * '' Sobralia speciosa'' C.Schweinf. * '' Sobralia splendida'' Schltr. * '' Sobralia stenophylla'' Lindl. * '' Sobralia stevensonii'' Dodson * '' Sobralia tamboana'' Dodson * '' Sobralia theobromina'' Dressler * '' Sobralia tricolor'' Dressler * '' Sobralia turkeliae'' Christenson * '' Sobralia undatocarinata'' C.Schweinf. * '' Sobralia uribei'' P.Ortiz * '' Sobralia valida'' Rolfe * '' Sobralia violacea'' Linden ex Lindl. * '' Sobralia virginalis'' Peeters & Cogn. * '' Sobralia warszewiczii'' Rchb.f. * '' Sobralia weberbaueriana'' Kraenzl. * '' Sobralia wilsoniana'' Rolfe * '' Sobralia withneri'' D.E.Benn. & Christenson * '' Sobralia xantholeuca'' B.S.Williams * '' Sobralia yauaperyensis'' Barb. Rodr.

Hybrids

* '' Sobralia × intermedia'' P.H.Allen * ''Sobralia'' ''×'' ''veitchii'' hort.

Gallery

Image: Sobralia_decora_-_Tapanti_region_of_Costa_Rica.jpg, '' Sobralia decora'' Image: Sobralia dichotoma (1).jpg, '' Sobralia dichotoma'' Image: Sobralia fragrans - fl 1.jpg, '' Sobralia fragrans'' Image: Sobralia macrantha (BG Zurich)-02.JPG, '' Sobralia macrantha'' Image: Sobralia macrophylla - fl.jpg, '' Sobralia macrophylla'' Image: Sobralia ruckeri-Xenia 1 fig 42 (1858).jpg, '' Sobralia ruckeri''

References

External links

*
The Sobralia Pages website, by Nina Rach
{{Taxonbar, from=Q133231 Epiphytic orchids Sobralieae genera Orchids of Central America Orchids of North America Orchids of South America