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Sophronitis

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Sophronitis
Sophronitis dayana
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Epidendroideae
Tribe: Epidendreae
Subtribe: Laeliinae
Alliance: Cattleya
Genus: Sophronitis
Lindl., 1828
Species

See text.

Sophronitis is a genus of small, epiphytic or lithophytic orchids, growing in the damp montane forest of eastern Brazil, Paraguay and NE Argentine.

Sophronitis species are widely known for their red flowers, particularly Sophronitis coccinea.

They have short, ovoid, often densely clustered, pseudobulbs along the rhizome, in which grows a single, or rarely two, apical, erect, fleshy, gray green leaves.

The leaf gives rise to a terminal inflorescence with one to eight flowers. Sometimes this inflorescence is subtended by a spathaceous bract, sometimes erroneously called spathe (spathe is a typical form in some other families such as Araceae and Arecaceae). The flowers have similarly shaped sepals and petals, and can be yellow, pink, lavender, magenta, orange and red.

The trilobed lip has lateral lobes that partially encircle the column. The smaller midlobe has a yellow disc and the spur is adnate to the ovary. The lip often presents some lamellate calli.

Some species are yellow, and almost all species have some shades of orange due to natural variation within the species.

They are used extensively in hybridization to influence the small size and the dark red color of the progeny, such as in the hybrid x Sophrolaeliocattleya (xSlc.) Sophronitis species are quite small, a characteristic that may be conferred to progeny such that they are more compact.

This new classification was created by Van den Berg & M.W.Chase in 2000. In addition to the traditional small, red species, it included all Laelia species from Brazil, based on DNA evidence. The Mexican species still are Laelia.

Synonymy

Chironiella Braem, Brasilaelia Campacci, Dungsia Chiron & V.P.Castro, Hadrolaelia Chiron & V.P.Castro, Hoffmannseggella H.G.Jones, Lophoglottis Raf., Microlaelia Chiron & V.P.Castro, Sophronia Lindl. are synonyms of Sophronitis.

Species

Many of these species used to belong to the genus Laelia.

Sophronitis purpurata
Sophronitis sincorana

Natural hybrids

File:Sophronitis-tenebrosa.jpg
Sophronitis tenebrosa
  • Sophronitis × carassana (S. lucasiana × S. mantiqueira) (Brazil)
  • Sophronitis × cipoensis (S. crispata × S. ghillanyi) (Brazil - Minas Gerais).
  • Sophronitis × espirito-santensis (S. pumila × S. xanthina) (SE. Brazil)
  • Sophronitis x feldmanniana (F.E.L.Miranda & K.G.Lacerda) Van den Berg & M.W.Chase 2005
  • Sophronitis × gerhard-santosii (S. harpophylla × S. kautskyana) (SE. Brazil).
  • Sophronitis × lilacina (S. crispa × S. perrinii) (SE. Brazil).
  • Sophronitis × mucugense (S. bahiensis × S. pfisteri) (Brazil - Bahia).
  • Sophronitis x raganii (F.E.L.Miranda & K.G.Lacerda) Van den Berg & M.W.Chase 2005
  • Sophronitis × wyattiana (S. crispa × S. lobata) (SE. Brazil)
  • Sophronitis × zaslawskii (S. harpophylla × S. praestans) (SE. Brazil)


Gallery

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