Trichoglottis
(pronounced: trik-oh-GLOTT-iss)
Classification
Vandeae subtribe Aeridinae
Overview
Monopodial epiphytes. Stems viny, erect or pendent, rooting at the nodes. Leaves alternate, distichous, leathery, often twisted to lie in one plane. Inflorescences subsessile axillary racemes, producing superposed inflorescences over time. Flowers two-ranked. Sepals and petals free, spreading. Lip three-lobed, spurred, with a backwall callus, the callus often tongue-shaped. Column short, with a short foot, the wings apical, blunt, usually pubescent; pollinia 4, in two tightly appressed pairs on a common linear stipe and viscidium.
Etymology
From the Greek tricho, meaning hair, and kentron, meaning spur, referring to the narrow spurs found in some species.
Distribution
A genus of about 60 species found from India to New Guinea and the Philippines. Species with long-pedunculate racemes or panicles are treated as the segregate genus Staurochilus.
Care and Culture Card
See basic growing conditions and care information below.
Grow plants of Trichoglottis in baskets of medium-grade epiphyte mixture. Provide intermediate to warm temperatures, bright light levels, and regular watering throughout the year. Plants of Trichoglottis reflower from old nodes for several years and it is not uncommon to have flowers produced along most of the stem.
Literature
Jenny, R. and H. Fessel 1999. Trichoglottis philippinensis var. brachiata (Ames) L. O. Wms. 1938. Die Orchidee 50(5): Orchideenkartei Seite 907-908. Seidenfaden, G. 1986. The reappearance of an interesting Trichoglottis (Orchidaceae). Kew Bull. 41(3):693-695. Senghas, K. 1999. Trichoglottis pusilla, ein Orchideenkleinrod aus Java. J. Orchideenfr. 6(4):246-251. Williams, L. O. 1938. The genus Trichoglottis in the Philippine Islands. Philip. J. Sci. 65(4):385-397.
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