Ania
(pronounced: ay-NEE-ah)
Classification
Arethuseae subtribe Bletiinae
Overview
Caespitose terrestrials. Pseudobulbs ovoid, tapered to a long cylindric apex, unifoliate, concealed by scarious bracts. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, acute, long-petiolate, the petiole cylindric and of equal diameter to the pseudobulb apex. Inflorescences erect, pedunculate, few-flowered racemes, solitary from the base of a previously matured growth. Flowers campanulate. Sepals and petals free, subsimilar. Lip +/- three-lobed, the lateral lobes erect, the midlobe with parallel longitudinal keels, the base extended in a small, subsaccate spur. Column arcuate, with marginal wings running along its length, the clinandrium hooded; pollinia eight in four unequal pairs.
Etymology
From the Greek ania, meaning trouble, perhaps referring to the difficult placement of this genus in a classification when first described.
Distribution
A genus of eight species ranging from northeast India to the Philippines and New Guinea.
Care and Culture Card
See basic growing conditions and care information below.
Grow plants of Ania in a terrestrial mixture in pots. Provide intermediate temperatures, medium to bright light levels, and even watering when the plants are in active growth. After the new growth matures, the plants enter a partial dormancy and watering should be greatly reduced until flowering. Repot yearly, dividing the plants into two-pseudobulb divisions before growth resumes.
Literature
Teuscher, H. 1971. Tainia hookeriana or T. penangiana? Amer. Orchid Soc. Bull. 40:803-806. Turner, H. 1992. A revision of the orchid genera Ania, Hancockia, Mischobulbum, and Tainia. Orchid Monogr. 6:43-166.
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