Brassavola

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Brassavola (R. Brown, 1813) is a genus of twenty orchids the Orchid family (Orchidaceae), subfamily Epidendroideae, tribe Epidendreae, subtribe Laeliinae.

The name comes from the Ventian nobleman and physician Antonio Musa Brassavola.

They are native to the lowlands of Central America and tropical South America. They are epiphytes, and a few are lithophytes.

A single, apical and succulent leaf grows on an elongated pseudobulb.

The orchid yields a single white or greenish white flower, or a raceme of a few flowers. The five greenish sepals are narrow and long. The base of the broad fringed lip enfolds partially the column. This column has a pair of falciform ears on each side of the front and contains twelve (sometime eight) pollinia.

Most Brassavola orchids are very fragrant to attract pollinators with their citrus smell. But they are only fragrant at night, in order to attract the right moth.

In 1698 Brassavola nodosa was the first tropical orchid to be brought from the Caribbean island Curaçao to Holland. Thus began the propagation of this orchid and the fascination for orchids in general.

Species

• Brassavola acaulis (C. America). Belize
• Brassavola cucullata : Hooded Brassavola, Daddy Longlegs Orchid (Mexico to N. South America).
• Brassavola duckeana (Brazil).
• Brassavola fasciculata (Brazil).
• Brassavola filifolia (Colombia).
• Brassavola flagellaris (Brazil).
• Brassavola fragans (Brazil).
• Brassavola gardneri (French Guiana, Brazil).
• Brassavola gillettei (Trinidad).
• Brassavola grandiflora (C. America to Colombia).
• Brassavola harrisii (Jamaica).
• Brassavola martiana (S. Trop. America).
• Brassavola nodosa Lady-of-the-night Orchid (Mexico to Trop. America). Belize
• Brassavola reginae (Brazil ).
• Brassavola retusa (Venezuela, N. Brazil to Peru).
• Brassavola revoluta (Brazil).
• Brassavola rhomboglossa (WC. & S. Brazil).
• Brassavola subulifolia (Jamaica).
• Brassavola tuberculata (Brazil to Peru and NE. Argentina).
• Brassavola venosa (SE. Mexico to C. America).

Brassavola is in the same alliance as the genera Cattleya and Laelia. They have been therefore used extensively in hybridization.

Some Hybrids:

• Brassavola Little Stars
• Brassavola David Sanders (contains Rhyncholaelia Digbyana, or another genera, making it an intergeneric hybrid.
• Brassolaelia Yellow Bird (Brassolaelia Richard Mueller x Brassavola nodosa)