Scuticaria (orchid)
Encyclopedia
Scuticaria is a genus of orchids comprising 9 species native to Belize
, Brazil
, Ecuador
, French Guiana
, Guyana
, Peru
, Suriname
and Venezuela
. Members of this genus have showy flower
s and long cylindrical leaves
. They are epiphytic, occasionally lithophytic or terrestrial, that grow pending and are cespitously, or reptant and ascending, which exist is three isolated areas of South America
, in Ecuador
, Amazon Forest and Serra do Mar
and Serra da Mantiqueira mountains, in Brazil
, both in shady and sunny places.
The genus Scuticaria has been traditionally placed close to Maxillaria
but recent research shows they are more closely related to the genus Bifrenaria
. Despite their interesting appearance, they are hardly seen in nature and, because their culture is complicated, they are not common in private collections and orchid shows either. No other use for these species is reported besides ornamentation. Because it is a well established genus, formed by few species that are reasonably easy to separate, there were few publications about them during the last decades.
, this excluded, and also in areas of Mata Atlântica
in Brazilian Southeast. No species is common in nature, being just occasionally or even rarely found.
The species with wider range is Scuticaria steelei which inhabits open clearings at higher elevations of central Amazon
, jungles known as matas de terra firme, up to eight hundred meters of altitude. Although this species occupies wide area, it is not found very often. Another species from Amazon, however, in a much more restricted area, just in Guyana
, in places where the altitude is lower and the humidity is higher, is Scuticaria hadwenii var. dogsonii.
Endemic in another area of Amazon, separated but not that far from the habitat of Scuticaria steelei, on southeastern Ecuador
, close to the place where the Andes
starts, in humid and slightly colder forests, on the mountains up to 1,300 meters of altitude, it is found Scuticaria salesiana. Under the same conditions but in wider areas, that encompass the southeast of Ecuador and northeast of Peru
, lives S. peruviana. All species from Amazon are always epiphytic.
The remaining species inhabit the area occupied by Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The only species that can be found widespread through several states is Scuticaria hadwenii, in the humid jungles of Serra do Mar
from Santa Catarina to Bahia States, generally found living epiphytic at middle height over thick tree stems. Other species occasionally found, although often under living litophytic over rocks and gatherings of fallen leaves in sunny areas of the mountains of São Paulo
and Rio de Janeiro
, is S. strictifolia.
Scuticaria irwiniana, second and last rupicolous species, exists only on the mountains of Minas Gerais
State, found in sunny or shadier places up to two thousand meters of altitude. Two are the species from Espírito Santo
State, S. novaesii and S. kautskyi, both endemic of restricted areas in the dry jungles of the countryside. The last Scuticaria species is S. itirapinensis, which has been found only a couple of times in the west-central dry woods of São Paulo
Sates, in an area which has been highly deforested, close to Itirapina
. There are no records or reports on this species, both in nature and under culture, during the last twenty five years. It is speculated about the possibility of its extinction.
s covered by thick vellamen. Their stem is formed by a ordinarily short rhizome
, slightly elongated in some species; and by cylindrical almost inconspicuous pseudobulb
s of the same diameter or slightly thicker than the unique leaf born on their apexes, because they generally are covered by small dried scaling steaths. The leaves may be erect or pending up to one meter long. The inflorescences grow from the said steaths and almost always bear just one flower
, exceptionally two in one species, and always is much longer than the pseudobulbs, bearing showy yellow, orange, purple or greenish flowers, with petal
s and sepal
s plain, stained or striped, usually by light brown but also by diverse combinations and shades of the other mentioned colors. Ordinarily the labellum
presents contrasting colors, frequently with white areas.
The flowers are large, wide open, and last during about two weeks. They have sepals of similar sizes and form an almost invisible chin with the column
foot. The petals may be similar to the sepals but smaller, or much smaller and with a much narrower base, occasionally showing different patterns or colors. The labellum articulates with the column, is trilobed, with comparatively small lateral lobes and larger terminal, which has variable shapes with diverse patterns and a callus under to column. The later is é semi-cylindrical, slightly arching, erect and thick, without any kind of appendix, ending in an apical anther and elongated in a small foot at the base. The flowers bear to pairs of pollinia of different sizes. The caudicle is narrow and the retinacle is small. The fruits resemble the ones of Maxillaria. There are no observation records of pollinators activities but Scuticaria are supposedly pollinated by Euglossini
bee
s.
received a drawing and a dried sample of a plant, sent by an orchid grower from Liverpool
, together with a note explaining that the plant arrived from Demerara
, in Guyana
, in July of the preceding year. Hooker described this species, classifying it under the genus Maxillaria
, calling it M. steelei, in homage to its discover. In his description, Hooker affirms that the plant is highly interesting and an excellent addition to the known epiphytic species because it shows cylindrical leaves almost one meter long, different from anything ever found. few months later, John Lindley
published again the species Hooker described, however, adding more information. Two years earlier, several plants had been sent from Demerara and Lindey reports that he had previously informally classified this species as Maxillaria flabellifera which, under this name, could be found in several orchid collection in England
. Because he had not yet described this species, he accepts the priority of the name chosen by Hooker. Lindley adds, however, that he had some doubts about the classification, of a species so different from any other known so far, under the genus Maxillaria.
In 1843, Lindley published a revision of a group of orchids classified as tribus Maxillaridae, then subordinated to Vandeae, a subfamily of Orchidaceae at the time. In this revision, he indicates that much work is needed till the limits between each genus within this tribus can be established and states his doubts regarding some of the new genera he was proposing, despite being very sure of other ones. Lindley suggested the division of Maxillaridae in twenty five genera, being Scuticaria one of the genera he considered well established. When describing this new genus, Lindley based on morphologic characteristics of Maxillaria steelei Hook., selected as the Type species
of Scuticaria with the name Scuticaria steelei
. This name comes from Latin
scutica, flagellum, in reference to the long cylindrical leaves that the species of this genus show, similar to the leather whips used to punish.
Strangely, because he published the genus Scuticaria many years earlier, in 1851, Lindley described another species now considered part of this genus, classifying it under Bifrenaria
. It is speculated that possibly because it was found in Brazil
on the same area in the southeast where most of Bifrenaria were common, or because he believed that two species separated by so long distance belonged to the same genus. It was Scuticaria hadwenii
. Few months later, Jules Émile Planchon corrected Lindley moving it to the genus where it is subordinated today. In 1851, the only two common Scuticaria species were described and the genus well established, therefore no later confusion about the classification of any species subordinated to this genus ever happened.
Almost one century passed before any important new information were published. In 1881 Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach
described Scuticaria dogsonii, originated from Guyana, but in 1892, Berthold Stein, considering that the only difference it shows from Scuticaria hadwenii is the fact it bears two flowers each inflorescence, reduced it to a variety of the later. In 1903, Célestin Alfred Cogniaux, when revising all orchids species from Brazil, cites two other varieties of Scuticaria hadwenii which, because just show color differences, can not be accepted as such today. Finally, in 1947, Frederico Carlos Hoehne described a new species, Scuticaria strictifolia
, yet similar to Scuticaria hadwenii, although showing some slight differences on the labellum structure, besides their normally lithophytic habit and erect leaves.
If few species were known so far, after 1968 the number of described species triplicated. All species described during the later years are uncommon and inhabit restricted areas, some are very rare or even supposedly exctinct. In 1968 Robert Louis Dressler described Scuticaria salesiana
, discovered in Ecuador
in an area far apart from the other Scuticaria range. In 1972, Guido Pabst described Scuticaria kautskyi, found in Espírito Santo
State, in southeast Brazil and, during the following year, published two species at once, S. itirapinensis
and S. irwiniana
. In 1982, other species was discovered in Espírito Santo, Scuticaria novaesii
. The last described species was S. peruviana, found in Peru
in 2002, in the same region of S. salesiana, to which it is related.
Despite Lindley indicated the possibility of Scuticaria being closely related to Bifrenaria when he initially described S. hadwenii under this genus, all later taxonomists always included Scuticaria on the same group Maxillaria were. It was just in 2000 that the first proofs of Scuticaria closer proximity to Bifrenaria started being published. In 2002, a detailed research about the phylogeny of Bifrenaria performed molecular analyses on two Scuticaria species while chosing them as out groups. This study claims that the phylogenethic internal relationships among Scuticaria species so far remain unknown.
It is known that other orchid genera bearing cylindrical leaves devolved this sort of leaves as a defense to climate changes their habitats were going through along the eras. Terete leaves are capable of much more water and nutrients and to face longer drought periods than species bearing thin leaves, on the other hand, almost all epiphytic species presenting the former type of leaves show more or less atrophied pseudobulbs since the leaves carry on its accumulating role. It is a supposition that Scuticaria species should have once inhabited much drier through their evolution. Because most of the species are found in shadier and more humid species now, this may one of the reasons why their culture uses to be complicated, possibly because the delicate balance they reached in nature is broken. For the same reason it is supposed their frequency in nature is only occasion or rare.
Only two species present erect leaves and are the only ones frequently found as lithophytes, Scuticaria irwiniana
, easily known recognized because of its flowers without any stains on the internally entirely purple and externally whitish sepals and petals, with white labellum, striped of purple. This species generally can be identified even without flowers because of its reptant, slightly ascendant growth, and longer rhyzome than any other species. Scuticaria strictifolia
also has erect leaves but occasionally, when cultivated under insufficient light, their leaves can be narrower and slightly bent making the distracted observer find hard to differentiate it from S. hadwenii. The Brazilian taxonomist Guido Pabst considered this species a variety of the later.
All species remaining are ephiphytic with pendent habit. Scuticaria hadwenii
, due to its several more or less isolated groups of populations along Serra do Mar, mostly on the west side of this chain of mountains, spreading throughout the interior highland in some states of Brazil, is the Scuticaria species that presents most variable colors. It can be separated from S. strictifolia because shows leaves always pending, flowers of more vivid colors and by the interior of the labellum, which ordinarily is more pubescent. There is a variety denominated dogsonii, native from Guyana, which is more floriferous.
The two other species from Espírito Santo State are highly different to each other. Scuticaria kautskyi usually has more or less uniform orange color on its sepals and petals, with their bases slightly lighter and dotted of greenish yellow. Their labellum is white showing few colored drawings and narrow terminal lobe, slightly deflected. The other species from this state, Scuticaria novaesii
presents flowers with green-yellow segments, intensely spotted with dark brown and wide and flat labellum terminal lobe, with clearly marked by radial multicolored lines.
Scuticaria itirapinensis
, the last species of Brazilian southeast, is the one that closely resembles Amazonian Scuticaria steelei, although it can be easily separated because of its strong yellow flowers and much shorter leaves, besides slight differences on the proportions of floral structures. A Scuticaria steelei
presents entirely pale yellow flowers, completely covered by spaced small darker stains, However in is not even necessary to observe the flowers to identify it as their leaves are about one meter long, and there are references of plants measuring almost one and a half meter.
The last two Scuticariaare isolated in forests of Peru and Ecuador and are similar to each other. They are different from all other because of the proportions of floral segments. The labellum is much larger when compared to their sepals and petals than it is on other species. Moreover, their petals are striped of brown and much smaller than the sepals, showing a greater difference than it is found on the other species. From each other, they can be separated mostly by the shape of the labellum. Scuticaria salesiana
presents more rounded intermediate lobe, and Scuticaria peruviana has it more rectangular, with the apex truncated, almost in a straight line.
In 2008, a new species of Scuticaria, S. bahiensis has been described from Bahia state in Brazil but so far it remains mostly unknown.
There are four different sorts of culture according to the origin of each species. S. steelei and S. hadwenii var. dogsonii are the species that need higher temperature and humidity. The two rupicolous species, S. irwiniana and S. strictifolia are the ones which need more light and constant ventilation besides drier culture conditions. S. peruviana and S. salesiana take slightly cooler temperature
s than the other species although still need humidity mostly during the early morning hours. The other species need less light than the mentioned ones. All species should be preferably mounted on plaques of vegetable fibers because of their pending habit, the rupicolous species may alternatively potted in well drained pots. Scuticaria are delicate plants that like to remain untouched during several years because their roots easily resent on replants.
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, French Guiana
French Guiana
French Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west...
, Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Suriname
Suriname
Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...
and Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. Members of this genus have showy 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 and long cylindrical 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....
. They are epiphytic, occasionally lithophytic or terrestrial, that grow pending and are cespitously, or reptant and ascending, which exist is three isolated areas of South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, in Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, Amazon Forest and Serra do Mar
Serra do Mar
Serra do Mar is a 1,500 km long system of mountain ranges and escarpments in Southeastern Brazil, which runs in parallel to the Atlantic Ocean coast from the state of Espírito Santo to southern Santa Catarina, although some include Serra Geral in the Serra do Mar, in which case this range...
and Serra da Mantiqueira mountains, in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, both in shady and sunny places.
The genus Scuticaria has been traditionally placed close to Maxillaria
Maxillaria
Maxillaria, abbreviated as Max in horticultural trade, is a large genus of orchids . This is a diverse genus, with very different morphological forms. Their characteristics can vary widely....
but recent research shows they are more closely related to the genus Bifrenaria
Bifrenaria
Bifrenaria, abbreviated Bif. in horticultural trade, is a genus of plant in family Orchidaceae. It contains 20 species found in Panama, Trinidad and South America...
. Despite their interesting appearance, they are hardly seen in nature and, because their culture is complicated, they are not common in private collections and orchid shows either. No other use for these species is reported besides ornamentation. Because it is a well established genus, formed by few species that are reasonably easy to separate, there were few publications about them during the last decades.
Distribution and habit
Despite there are few species, Scuticaria inhabit varied climates, disperse in a very uneven way though all countries of South America northern to BoliviaBolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, this excluded, and also in areas of Mata Atlântica
Mata Atlântica
The Atlantic Forest is a region of tropical and subtropical moist forest, tropical dry forest, tropical savanna, semi deciduous forest and mangrove forests which extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the north to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south, and...
in Brazilian Southeast. No species is common in nature, being just occasionally or even rarely found.
The species with wider range is Scuticaria steelei which inhabits open clearings at higher elevations of central Amazon
Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
, jungles known as matas de terra firme, up to eight hundred meters of altitude. Although this species occupies wide area, it is not found very often. Another species from Amazon, however, in a much more restricted area, just in Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, in places where the altitude is lower and the humidity is higher, is Scuticaria hadwenii var. dogsonii.
Endemic in another area of Amazon, separated but not that far from the habitat of Scuticaria steelei, on southeastern Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, close to the place where the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
starts, in humid and slightly colder forests, on the mountains up to 1,300 meters of altitude, it is found Scuticaria salesiana. Under the same conditions but in wider areas, that encompass the southeast of Ecuador and northeast of Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, lives S. peruviana. All species from Amazon are always epiphytic.
The remaining species inhabit the area occupied by Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The only species that can be found widespread through several states is Scuticaria hadwenii, in the humid jungles of Serra do Mar
Serra do Mar
Serra do Mar is a 1,500 km long system of mountain ranges and escarpments in Southeastern Brazil, which runs in parallel to the Atlantic Ocean coast from the state of Espírito Santo to southern Santa Catarina, although some include Serra Geral in the Serra do Mar, in which case this range...
from Santa Catarina to Bahia States, generally found living epiphytic at middle height over thick tree stems. Other species occasionally found, although often under living litophytic over rocks and gatherings of fallen leaves in sunny areas of the mountains of São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
and Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, is S. strictifolia.
Scuticaria irwiniana, second and last rupicolous species, exists only on the mountains of Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
State, found in sunny or shadier places up to two thousand meters of altitude. Two are the species from Espírito Santo
Espírito Santo
Espírito Santo is one of the states of southeastern Brazil, often referred to by the abbreviation "ES". Its capital is Vitória and the largest city is Vila Velha. The name of the state means literally "holy spirit" after the Holy Ghost of Christianity...
State, S. novaesii and S. kautskyi, both endemic of restricted areas in the dry jungles of the countryside. The last Scuticaria species is S. itirapinensis, which has been found only a couple of times in the west-central dry woods of São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
Sates, in an area which has been highly deforested, close to Itirapina
Itirapina
Itirapina is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 is 14,315 and the area is 565.78 km². The elevation is 770 m. This place name comes from the Tupi language....
. There are no records or reports on this species, both in nature and under culture, during the last twenty five years. It is speculated about the possibility of its extinction.
Description
The species subordinated to genus Scuticaria are characterized by being plants of thick cylindrical rootRoot
In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial or aerating . Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either...
s covered by thick vellamen. Their stem is formed by a ordinarily short 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...
, slightly elongated in some species; and by cylindrical almost inconspicuous 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 of the same diameter or slightly thicker than the unique leaf born on their apexes, because they generally are covered by small dried scaling steaths. The leaves may be erect or pending up to one meter long. The inflorescences grow from the said steaths and almost always bear just one 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...
, exceptionally two in one species, and always is much longer than the pseudobulbs, bearing showy yellow, orange, purple or greenish flowers, with petal
Petal
Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They often are brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. Together, all of the petals of a flower are called a corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of special leaves called sepals lying...
s and sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s plain, stained or striped, usually by light brown but also by diverse combinations and shades of the other mentioned colors. Ordinarily the labellum
Labellum
Labellum is the Latin diminutive of labium, meaning lip. These are anatomical terms used descriptively in biology, for example in Entomology and botany.-Botany:...
presents contrasting colors, frequently with white areas.
The flowers are large, wide open, and last during about two weeks. They have sepals of similar sizes and form an almost invisible chin with the column
Column (botany)
The column, or technically the gynostemium, is a reproductive structure that can be found in several plant families: Aristolochiaceae, Orchidaceae, and Stylidiaceae....
foot. The petals may be similar to the sepals but smaller, or much smaller and with a much narrower base, occasionally showing different patterns or colors. The labellum articulates with the column, is trilobed, with comparatively small lateral lobes and larger terminal, which has variable shapes with diverse patterns and a callus under to column. The later is é semi-cylindrical, slightly arching, erect and thick, without any kind of appendix, ending in an apical anther and elongated in a small foot at the base. The flowers bear to pairs of pollinia of different sizes. The caudicle is narrow and the retinacle is small. The fruits resemble the ones of Maxillaria. There are no observation records of pollinators activities but Scuticaria are supposedly pollinated by Euglossini
Euglossini
Euglossine bees, also called orchid bees, are the only group of corbiculate bees whose non-parasitic members do not all possess eusocial behavior. Most of the species are solitary, though a few are communal, or exhibit simple forms of eusociality...
bee
Bee
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila...
s.
Taxonomic notes
In May 1837, the English Botanist William Jackson HookerWilliam Jackson Hooker
Sir William Jackson Hooker, FRS was an English systematic botanist and organiser. He held the post of Regius Professor of Botany at Glasgow University, and was the first Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He enjoyed the friendship and support of Sir Joseph Banks for his exploring,...
received a drawing and a dried sample of a plant, sent by an orchid grower from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, together with a note explaining that the plant arrived from Demerara
Demerara
Demerara was a region in South America in what is now Guyana that was colonised by the Dutch in 1611. The British invaded and captured the area in 1796...
, in Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, in July of the preceding year. Hooker described this species, classifying it under the genus Maxillaria
Maxillaria
Maxillaria, abbreviated as Max in horticultural trade, is a large genus of orchids . This is a diverse genus, with very different morphological forms. Their characteristics can vary widely....
, calling it M. steelei, in homage to its discover. In his description, Hooker affirms that the plant is highly interesting and an excellent addition to the known epiphytic species because it shows cylindrical leaves almost one meter long, different from anything ever found. few months later, John Lindley
John Lindley
John Lindley FRS was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist.-Early years:Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley was a nurseryman and pomologist and ran a commercial nursery garden...
published again the species Hooker described, however, adding more information. Two years earlier, several plants had been sent from Demerara and Lindey reports that he had previously informally classified this species as Maxillaria flabellifera which, under this name, could be found in several orchid collection in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Because he had not yet described this species, he accepts the priority of the name chosen by Hooker. Lindley adds, however, that he had some doubts about the classification, of a species so different from any other known so far, under the genus Maxillaria.
In 1843, Lindley published a revision of a group of orchids classified as tribus Maxillaridae, then subordinated to Vandeae, a subfamily of Orchidaceae at the time. In this revision, he indicates that much work is needed till the limits between each genus within this tribus can be established and states his doubts regarding some of the new genera he was proposing, despite being very sure of other ones. Lindley suggested the division of Maxillaridae in twenty five genera, being Scuticaria one of the genera he considered well established. When describing this new genus, Lindley based on morphologic characteristics of Maxillaria steelei Hook., selected as the Type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
of Scuticaria with the name Scuticaria steelei
Scuticaria steelei
Scuticaria steelei is a species of orchid native to southern tropical America. It is the type species of the genus Scuticaria....
. This name comes from Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
scutica, flagellum, in reference to the long cylindrical leaves that the species of this genus show, similar to the leather whips used to punish.
Strangely, because he published the genus Scuticaria many years earlier, in 1851, Lindley described another species now considered part of this genus, classifying it under Bifrenaria
Bifrenaria
Bifrenaria, abbreviated Bif. in horticultural trade, is a genus of plant in family Orchidaceae. It contains 20 species found in Panama, Trinidad and South America...
. It is speculated that possibly because it was found in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
on the same area in the southeast where most of Bifrenaria were common, or because he believed that two species separated by so long distance belonged to the same genus. It was Scuticaria hadwenii
Scuticaria hadwenii
Scuticaria hadwenii is a species of orchid occurring from Guyana to Brazil....
. Few months later, Jules Émile Planchon corrected Lindley moving it to the genus where it is subordinated today. In 1851, the only two common Scuticaria species were described and the genus well established, therefore no later confusion about the classification of any species subordinated to this genus ever happened.
Almost one century passed before any important new information were published. In 1881 Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach
Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach
Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach was an ornithologist, botanist and the foremost German orchidologist of the 19th century...
described Scuticaria dogsonii, originated from Guyana, but in 1892, Berthold Stein, considering that the only difference it shows from Scuticaria hadwenii is the fact it bears two flowers each inflorescence, reduced it to a variety of the later. In 1903, Célestin Alfred Cogniaux, when revising all orchids species from Brazil, cites two other varieties of Scuticaria hadwenii which, because just show color differences, can not be accepted as such today. Finally, in 1947, Frederico Carlos Hoehne described a new species, Scuticaria strictifolia
Scuticaria strictifolia
Scuticaria strictifolia is a species of orchid endemic to Brazil ....
, yet similar to Scuticaria hadwenii, although showing some slight differences on the labellum structure, besides their normally lithophytic habit and erect leaves.
If few species were known so far, after 1968 the number of described species triplicated. All species described during the later years are uncommon and inhabit restricted areas, some are very rare or even supposedly exctinct. In 1968 Robert Louis Dressler described Scuticaria salesiana
Scuticaria salesiana
Scuticaria salesiana is a species of orchid ranging from southeastern Ecuador to Peru.- References :...
, discovered in Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
in an area far apart from the other Scuticaria range. In 1972, Guido Pabst described Scuticaria kautskyi, found in Espírito Santo
Espírito Santo
Espírito Santo is one of the states of southeastern Brazil, often referred to by the abbreviation "ES". Its capital is Vitória and the largest city is Vila Velha. The name of the state means literally "holy spirit" after the Holy Ghost of Christianity...
State, in southeast Brazil and, during the following year, published two species at once, S. itirapinensis
Scuticaria itirapinensis
Scuticaria itirapinensis is a species of orchid endemic to Brazil ....
and S. irwiniana
Scuticaria irwiniana
Scuticaria irwiniana is a species of orchid endemic to Brazil ....
. In 1982, other species was discovered in Espírito Santo, Scuticaria novaesii
Scuticaria novaesii
Scuticaria novaesii is a species of orchid endemic to Brazil ....
. The last described species was S. peruviana, found in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
in 2002, in the same region of S. salesiana, to which it is related.
Despite Lindley indicated the possibility of Scuticaria being closely related to Bifrenaria when he initially described S. hadwenii under this genus, all later taxonomists always included Scuticaria on the same group Maxillaria were. It was just in 2000 that the first proofs of Scuticaria closer proximity to Bifrenaria started being published. In 2002, a detailed research about the phylogeny of Bifrenaria performed molecular analyses on two Scuticaria species while chosing them as out groups. This study claims that the phylogenethic internal relationships among Scuticaria species so far remain unknown.
It is known that other orchid genera bearing cylindrical leaves devolved this sort of leaves as a defense to climate changes their habitats were going through along the eras. Terete leaves are capable of much more water and nutrients and to face longer drought periods than species bearing thin leaves, on the other hand, almost all epiphytic species presenting the former type of leaves show more or less atrophied pseudobulbs since the leaves carry on its accumulating role. It is a supposition that Scuticaria species should have once inhabited much drier through their evolution. Because most of the species are found in shadier and more humid species now, this may one of the reasons why their culture uses to be complicated, possibly because the delicate balance they reached in nature is broken. For the same reason it is supposed their frequency in nature is only occasion or rare.
Species
Because of its highly particular morphologic characteristics which allow immediate identification, its restricted species distribution, and its comparatively low variability, since the genus Scuticaria was established by Lindley, only ten species were formally described and there has never been much confusion concerning the distinguishing of any of the species. Out of these ten, nine are generally accepted, the tenth being normally accepted not as a species but as a variety. For identification purposes, the species can be split as follows:Only two species present erect leaves and are the only ones frequently found as lithophytes, Scuticaria irwiniana
Scuticaria irwiniana
Scuticaria irwiniana is a species of orchid endemic to Brazil ....
, easily known recognized because of its flowers without any stains on the internally entirely purple and externally whitish sepals and petals, with white labellum, striped of purple. This species generally can be identified even without flowers because of its reptant, slightly ascendant growth, and longer rhyzome than any other species. Scuticaria strictifolia
Scuticaria strictifolia
Scuticaria strictifolia is a species of orchid endemic to Brazil ....
also has erect leaves but occasionally, when cultivated under insufficient light, their leaves can be narrower and slightly bent making the distracted observer find hard to differentiate it from S. hadwenii. The Brazilian taxonomist Guido Pabst considered this species a variety of the later.
All species remaining are ephiphytic with pendent habit. Scuticaria hadwenii
Scuticaria hadwenii
Scuticaria hadwenii is a species of orchid occurring from Guyana to Brazil....
, due to its several more or less isolated groups of populations along Serra do Mar, mostly on the west side of this chain of mountains, spreading throughout the interior highland in some states of Brazil, is the Scuticaria species that presents most variable colors. It can be separated from S. strictifolia because shows leaves always pending, flowers of more vivid colors and by the interior of the labellum, which ordinarily is more pubescent. There is a variety denominated dogsonii, native from Guyana, which is more floriferous.
The two other species from Espírito Santo State are highly different to each other. Scuticaria kautskyi usually has more or less uniform orange color on its sepals and petals, with their bases slightly lighter and dotted of greenish yellow. Their labellum is white showing few colored drawings and narrow terminal lobe, slightly deflected. The other species from this state, Scuticaria novaesii
Scuticaria novaesii
Scuticaria novaesii is a species of orchid endemic to Brazil ....
presents flowers with green-yellow segments, intensely spotted with dark brown and wide and flat labellum terminal lobe, with clearly marked by radial multicolored lines.
Scuticaria itirapinensis
Scuticaria itirapinensis
Scuticaria itirapinensis is a species of orchid endemic to Brazil ....
, the last species of Brazilian southeast, is the one that closely resembles Amazonian Scuticaria steelei, although it can be easily separated because of its strong yellow flowers and much shorter leaves, besides slight differences on the proportions of floral structures. A Scuticaria steelei
Scuticaria steelei
Scuticaria steelei is a species of orchid native to southern tropical America. It is the type species of the genus Scuticaria....
presents entirely pale yellow flowers, completely covered by spaced small darker stains, However in is not even necessary to observe the flowers to identify it as their leaves are about one meter long, and there are references of plants measuring almost one and a half meter.
The last two Scuticariaare isolated in forests of Peru and Ecuador and are similar to each other. They are different from all other because of the proportions of floral segments. The labellum is much larger when compared to their sepals and petals than it is on other species. Moreover, their petals are striped of brown and much smaller than the sepals, showing a greater difference than it is found on the other species. From each other, they can be separated mostly by the shape of the labellum. Scuticaria salesiana
Scuticaria salesiana
Scuticaria salesiana is a species of orchid ranging from southeastern Ecuador to Peru.- References :...
presents more rounded intermediate lobe, and Scuticaria peruviana has it more rectangular, with the apex truncated, almost in a straight line.
In 2008, a new species of Scuticaria, S. bahiensis has been described from Bahia state in Brazil but so far it remains mostly unknown.
Culture
In his book Flora Brasilica, the Brazilian Botanist Frederico Hoehne strongly recommended the culture of Scuticaria species because of their beautiful flowers and interesting vegetation, however, soon later he admits that all species then cultivated by São Paulo Botanic Garden had died after two or thre years. Indeed, he claims that to successfully grow them a special environment needs to be created. These plants are not easy to maintain under culture. Only recently, with the help of modern technology, timers and foggers that keep the humidity constant, the growers have been finally capable of keeping them out of their natural environment for several years.There are four different sorts of culture according to the origin of each species. S. steelei and S. hadwenii var. dogsonii are the species that need higher temperature and humidity. The two rupicolous species, S. irwiniana and S. strictifolia are the ones which need more light and constant ventilation besides drier culture conditions. S. peruviana and S. salesiana take slightly cooler temperature
Temperature
Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
s than the other species although still need humidity mostly during the early morning hours. The other species need less light than the mentioned ones. All species should be preferably mounted on plaques of vegetable fibers because of their pending habit, the rupicolous species may alternatively potted in well drained pots. Scuticaria are delicate plants that like to remain untouched during several years because their roots easily resent on replants.