Robiquetia

Robiquetia aberrans

Robiquetia, commonly known as pouched orchids,^[2] or 寄树兰属 (ji shu lan shu),^[3] is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Plants in this genus are epiphytes with long, sometimes branched, fibrous stems, leathery leaves in two ranks and large numbers of small, densely crowded flowers on a pendulous flowering stem. There are about eighty species found from tropical and subtropical Asia to the Western Pacific.

Description

Orchids in the genus Robiquetia are epiphytic, monopodial herbs with pendulous, fibrous, sometimes branching stems and many smooth roots. The leaves are arranged in two ranks and are thick and leathery, oblong to elliptic, with a divided, asymmetrical, tip. Many small, densely crowded flowers are arranged on a pendulous flowering stem that emerges from a leaf axil. The sepals and petals are similar to each other and the labellum has three lobes and an inflated spur on its tip.

Taxonomy and naming

The genus Robiquetia was first formally described in 1829 by Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré and the description was published in his book Voyage autour du monde from a specimen collected in the Maluku Islands. The type species is Robiquetia ascendens. The name Robiquetia honours the French chemist Pierre Jean Robiquet.^[1][4][5]

Species list: The following is a list of species of Robiquetia accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families as of December 2018:^[1]

Distribution

Orchids in the genus Robiquetia occur in China (2 species), the Indian subcontinent, Indochina, Malesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and Queensland, Australia (2 species, 1 endemic).

References