Anguloa
Tulip orchids
Anguloa, commonly known as tulip orchids, is a small orchid genus
closely related to Lycaste. Its abbreviation in horticulture is Ang.
This genus was described by José Antonio Pavón and Hipólito Ruiz
López in 1798. They named it in honor of Francisco de Angulo, a
contemporary Peruvian who collected orchids as a hobby and by this
way had become quite knowledgeable about these plants, assisting the
botanists in their work.
This genus is found on the forest floor at high elevations from
Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador to Peru.[1]
Description
A horticultural hybrid Anguloa with green flowers
Tulip orchids are rather large terrestrial and sometimes
epiphytic plants with fleshy pseudobulbs longer than 20 cm. The
long, lanceolate and plicate leaves of a full-grown Anguloa can be
more than 1 m long. Two to four leaves grow from the base of each
pseudobulb. The leaves are deciduous, and are shed at the start of
each new growth.
The flowers of these orchids have a strong scent of cinnamon.
They are of waxy appearance and are (in wild species) either of two
colors, depending on the species – greenish white, or yellow to red.
A single flower per inflorescence arises from the base of each new
pseudobulb. The white tulip orchids have six inflorescences per
pseudobulb, the other can produce up to twelve inflorescences. The
sepals have a bulbous shape, resembling a tulip; hence the common
name. The lip is three-lobed. The column has four pollinia.
Species
There are nine species of tulip orchids, with varieties known of
some of these. In addition, there are 4 natural hybrids, which might
eventually evolve into distinct species with self-sustaining
populations. Other hybrid tulip orchids are bred by
horticulturalists, but do not occur in the wild. |
