Oncidium
Sw..
Pronunciation:
on–CEE–dee–um
(click on the name
to hear it spoken)
Tribe: Oncidieae
Subtribe: Oncidiinae
Oncidium was first described by O. Swartz in 1800 in Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapakademiens
Avhandlingar. The name is derived from the Greek word onkos (for mass or pad). The genus is not only one of the largest and most popular cultivated orchid genera, it is also a conglomeration of considerably distinct species that have given taxonomists serious problems. During the last 25 years many species have been shifted to new genera or transferred to other, existing genera, notably
Cyrtochilum, Psychopsis, Tolumnia and Trichocentrum.
Oncidiums occur in just about any imaginable habitat. They are, with few exceptions, epiphytic plants. Oncidiums usually produce long, branched, many-flowered, erect to arching inflorescences bearing small to fairly large flowers often in colors from yellow to brown, rarely concolor but usually marked or blotched dark brown. Some of the most popular ones are
Onc. leucochilum, Onc. tigrinum, Onc. sarcodes and Onc. varicosum.
Number of species: About 300 accepted names.
Distribution: These plants occur throughout the tropical and subtropical Americas.
left: Oncidium
sarcodes
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right:
Onc.
sphacelatum inflorescence
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left: Onc.
sphacelatum
flowers
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photo to see larger, close
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