Cranichis muscosa Sw.

  • Authority

    Ackerman, James D. 1995. An orchid flora of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 73: 1-203.

  • Family

    Orchidaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Cranichis muscosa Sw.

  • Description

    Deprecated: mb_convert_encoding(): Handling HTML entities via mbstring is deprecated; use htmlspecialchars, htmlentities, or mb_encode_numericentity/mb_decode_numericentity instead in /home/emu/nybgweb/www-dev/htdocs/science-dev/wp-content/themes/nybgscience/lib/VHMonographsDetails.php on line 179

    Species Description - Plants small, terrestrial herbs to 50 cm tall. Roots fleshy, 2-3 mm diam. Leaves several, forming a basal rosette; petioles erect; blades spreading, thin, broadly elliptic with several prominent arching veins. Inflorescences terminal, erect, glabrous; scape with several, short, leafy bracts; raceme multiflowered, 1-15 cm long; floral bracts lanceolate, shorter than the ovary. Flowers brilliant white, nonresupinate, glabrous. Pedicellate ovary 3-6 mm long. Dorsal sepal 3-nerved, elliptic-lanceolate, to 4 mm long, 1.5 mm wide; lateral sepals 3-nerved, obliquely ovate-lanceolate to ovate, to 4 mm long, 2 mm wide. Petals 1-nerved, margin facing the lip minutely ciliate, linear, blunt, to 3.5 mm long, 1 mm wide. Lip spotted green or pale yellow, upper margin undulate, ovatesubquadrate, concave, to 4 mm long, 2.5 mm wide. Column prominently winged, 1.5-2 mm long; pollinia yellow, elongate. Fruits erect-spreading, ellipsoidal-cylindrical, ca. 1 cm long, 3-4 mm diam.

  • Discussion

    1. Cranichis muscosa Swartz, Nov. Gen. Sp. PL Prodr. 120. 1788. Type. Swartz s.n., from Jamaica (BM, UPS). Fig. 11. Phenology & Pollination. Cranichis muscosa blooms during the winter months from January through March, and fruits mature quickly. Flowers are autogamous. When plants are grown isolated from potential pollinators, nearly all flowers form fruits. After the anther dehisces, the pollinarium bends over and contacts the stigma.

  • Distribution

    General Distribution. Central America, Florida (U.S.A.), Mexico, South America from Venezuela to Peru, Tobago, Trinidad, and West Indies.

    Central America| United States of America North America| Mexico North America| Venezuela South America| Colombia South America| Ecuador South America| Peru South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| West Indies|