Orchidaceae

Comparettia

Representative Image
Representative image.

Kingdom: Plantae Rank: Genus Parent: Orchidaceae Status: Valid

Morphological Description

Diagnosis: Plants of Comparettia are twig epiphytes and rarely form plants with more than 2-3 growths. The brilliantly colored flowers have a conspicuous spur usually as long as or longer than the lip.

1 Flowers cerise; inflorescences usually racemes. ............................................... C. falcata
1’ Flowers orange; inflorescences usually panicles. ............................................. C. peruviana

Vegetative Morphology

Habit: Caespitose epiphytes. Pseudobulbs slender, subtended by papery bracts, rarely foliaceous.

Leaves: ##

Reproductive Morphology

Inflorescence: Inflorescences axillary long-pedunculate racemes or panicles, few-flowered to many-flowered, the floral bracts inconspicuous.

Flowers: Flowers showy, usually brilliantly colored. Dorsal sepal and petals free, spreading, the dorsal sepal concave forming a hood over the column, the lateral sepals fused forming a long, slender spur. Lip three-lobed, fused to the column at the middle of the lip, the midlobe fan-shaped with an apical notch, with a pair of slender auricles at the base nestled in the sepaline spur, with callus. Column stout, without foot or wings; pollinia 2, on a common viscidium and stipe.