Pseudolaelia is a small genus belonging to the orchid family (Orchidaceae

Orchidaceae

The Orchidaceae, commonly referred to as the orchid family, is a morphologically diverse and widespread family of monocots in the order Asparagales. Along with the Asteraceae, it is one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species,...

). The abbreviation used in the horticultural trade is Pdla.

Description

The flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s of these orchids resemble those of Laelia

Laelia

Laelia, abbreviated L. in the horticultural trade, is a small genus of 25 species from the orchid family . This is one of the most important and popular orchid genera, because of the beautiful flowers, their genetic properties and because they are fairly easy in culture. It is probably named after...

, but the main difference between these two genera lies in the vegetative part.

These orchids occur exclusively in Eastern Brazil, often as epiphyte

Epiphyte

An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...

s. Some are lithophyte

Lithophyte

Lithophytes are a type of plant that grows in or on rocks. Lithophytes feed off moss, nutrients in rain water, litter, and even their own dead tissue....

s, forming a thicket on the rocks. Others, as Pseudolaelia vellozicola, are semi-epiphytes and can be found on mat-like communities of Vellozia bushes on inselbergs (dome-shaped granitic or gneissic rock outcrops) in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest, requiring an adaptation to the extreme environmental conditions (dryness, isolation)

The rhizome

Rhizome

In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...

s are extended. The pseudobulb

Pseudobulb

The pseudobulb is a storage organ derived from the part of a stem between two leaf nodes.It applies to the orchid family , specifically certain groups of epiphytic orchids, and may be single or composed of several internodes with evergreen or deciduous leaves along its length.In some species, it is...

s are fusiform, cylindrical to conical, carrying three to eight leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

. These are apical, deciduous, upright, leathery and pointy. The base of the leaves clasps the pseudobulb from the upper third till the apex.

The inflorescence is a long raceme

Raceme

A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...

, growing from the apex of the pseudobulb, with an undefined number of small white to pink flowers, opening in a consecutive manner clustered at the apex.

Pollination

Pollination

Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred in plants, thereby enabling fertilisation and sexual reproduction. Pollen grains transport the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself...

 is performed by hummingbird

Hummingbird

Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings...

s, butterflies

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

, dipterids

Diptera

Diptera , or true flies, is the order of insects possessing only a single pair of wings on the mesothorax; the metathorax bears a pair of drumstick like structures called the halteres, the remnants of the hind wings. It is a large order, containing an estimated 240,000 species, although under half...

 and hymenopterids

Hymenoptera

Hymenoptera is one of the largest orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees and ants. There are over 130,000 recognized species, with many more remaining to be described. The name refers to the heavy wings of the insects, and is derived from the Ancient Greek ὑμήν : membrane and...

. The flowers of Pseudolaelia corcovadensis, being self-compatible, are also pollinated by deceit by the bee Bombus (Fervidobombus) atratus by mimicking a generalized bee-attracting food-flower. However, these visits are rather rare

Species of Pseudolaelia

• Pseudolaelia brejetubensis M.Frey (2003)
• Pseudolaelia canaanensis (Ruschi) F.Barros (1994)
• Pseudolaelia cipoensis Pabst (1973)
• Pseudolaelia citrina Pabst (1976)
• Pseudolaelia corcovadensis Porto & Brade (1935) - Typus Species
• Pseudolaelia dutraei Ruschi (1949)
• Pseudolaelia freyi Chiron & V.P.Castro (2004)
• Pseudolaelia geraensis Pabst (1967)
• Pseudolaelia irwiniana Pabst (1973)
• Pseudolaelia maquijiensis M.Frey (2005)
• Pseudolaelia pavopolitana M.Frey (2005)
• Pseudolaelia vellozicola (Hoehne) Porto & Brade (1935)

Two new species have been proposed by M. Frey : Pseudaelia maquijiensis and Pseudolaelia pavopolitana (Brazilian Orchids, volume 28; January 2006 – interview with Wladyslaw e Aleksandro Zaslawski)

Interspecific species

• Pseudolaelia × perimii M. Frey (2005) = (Pseudolaelia brejetubensis × Pseudolaelia freyi)