''Coryanthes'', commonly known as bucket orchids, is a genus of neotropical

epiphytic An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another 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 epiphyt ...

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. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

s (family Orchidaceae). This genus is abbreviated as Crths in horticultural trade. They are native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> Bucket orchids are an excellent example of

coevolution In biology, coevolution occurs when two or more species reciprocally affect each other's evolution through the process of natural selection. The term sometimes is used for two traits in the same species affecting each other's evolution, as well a ...

and mutualism, as the orchids have evolved along with orchid bees (the tribe Euglossini of the family

Apidae Apidae is the largest family within the superfamily Apoidea, containing at least 5700 species of bees. The family includes some of the most commonly seen bees, including bumblebees and honey bees, but also includes stingless bees (also used for ...

) and both depend on each other for reproduction. One to three flowers are borne on a

pendant A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, which may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. Its name stems from the Latin word ...

stem that comes from the base of the pseudobulbs. The flower secretes a fluid (see '' Coryanthes alborosea'' picture) into the flower lip, which is shaped like a bucket. The male orchid bees (not the females) are attracted to the flower by a strong scent from aromatic oils, which they store in specialized spongy pouches inside their swollen hind legs, as they appear to use the scent in their courtship dances in order to attract females. The bees, trying to get the waxy substance containing the scent, sometimes fall to the fluid-filled bucket. As they are trying to escape, they find that there are some small knobs on which they can climb on, while the rest of the lip is lined with smooth, downward-pointing hairs, upon which their claws cannot find a grip. The knobs lead to a spout (see the '' Coryanthes leucocorys'' picture), but as the bee is trying to escape, the spout constricts. At that same moment, the small packets containing the

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

of the orchid get pressed against the

thorax The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...

of the bee. However, the glue on the pollen packets does not set immediately, so the orchid keeps the bee trapped until the glue has set. Once the glue has set, the bee is let free and he can now dry his wings and fly off. His ordeal may have taken as long as forty-five minutes. Hopefully for the orchid, the bee will go to another Coryanthes flower, where, if the flower is to be successful at reproducing, the bee, displaying more enthusiasm than wisdom, falls once again into the bucket of another flower of the same species. This time the pollen packets get stuck to the stigma as the bee is escaping, and after a while the orchid will produce a

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

pod. According to Anthony Huxley, the fluid produced by the two glands which fill the bucket contain an intoxicating substance. These flowers are among the largest in the Orchid Family. According to Kupper and Linsenmaier some species can be up to wide and top to bottom. '' C. bruchmuelleri'' is generally regarded as the largest species, as even the unopened buds can be long by in width. The bee, having stored the aromatic oils in his back legs, can then fly off to mate with a female bee.

History

Some of the first investigations on ''Coryanthes'' were published by Cruger in 1865.

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

describes his observations and experiments on some species of ''Coryanthes'' in his book ''The Various Contrivances by which Orchids are Fertilized by Insects''. However, Darwin thought it was the female bees that were doing the fertilizing, and it was almost 100 years before the role of the male euglossine bees were revealed in 1961.Dodson, C. H. and G.P. Frymire (1961) ''Natural pollination of orchids''. Mo. Bot. Gard. Bull. 49(9):133-152

Intergeneric hybrids

* ''Coryhopea'' (''Coryanthes'' × ''Stanhopea'')

Gallery

Image:Coryanthes alborosea Orchi 04.jpg, '' Coryanthes
alborosea'' Image:Coryanthes gerlachiana Orchi 02.jpg, '' Coryanthes
gerlachiana'' Image:Coryanthes hunteriana Orchi 01.jpg, '' Coryanthes
hunteriana'' Image:Coryanthes leucocorys Orchi 02.jpg, '' Coryanthes
leucocorys'' Image:Coryanthes macrantha Orchi 03.jpg, '' Coryanthes
verrucolineata'' Image:Coryanthes macrocorys Orchi 01.jpg, '' Coryanthes
macrocorys'' Image:Coryanthes maculata Orchi 02.jpg, '' Coryanthes
maculata'' Image:Coryanthes mastersiana Orchi 01.jpg, '' Coryanthes
mastersiana'' Image:Coryanthes picturata Orchi 01.jpg, '' Coryanthes
picturata'' Image:Coryanthes speciosa Orchi 02.jpg, '' Coryanthes
speciosa'' Image:Coryanthes trifoliata Orchi 01.jpg, '' Coryanthes
trifoliata'' Image:Coryanthes verrucolineata Orchi 04.jpg, '' Coryanthes
verrucolineata''

References

External links

* * * (1831) Botanical Magazine 58: t. 3102. * (2009) Epidendroideae (Part two). Genera Orchidacearum 5: 407 ff. Oxford University Press.
Photo collections of ''Coryanthes'' from Botanical Garden Munich
{{Authority control Stanhopeinae genera

History

Intergeneric hybrids

Gallery

See also

References

External links