Some plant leaves are blue, but have no blue pigments. How does that work?
Tag - Orchidaceae
Sarah Covshoff
Basal orchid cheats on its fungal partner
Apostasia nipponica is the first member of the early-diverging orchid clade found to be using this strategy.
Erin Zimmerman
Spider orchid conservation: the importance of serendipitous fungi
Mycorrhizal fungi can be isolated from related common species to propagate threatened Caladenia.
Juniper Kiss
Remote tropical island colonization does not preclude symbiotic specialists
For symbiotic organisms, their colonization and spread across remote oceanic islands should favour generalists. Plants that form obligate symbiotic associations with microbes dominate island ecosystems, but the...
Alex Assiry
The secret to conserving an endangered orchid is in the soil
A study of orchids shows the secret to conservation isn't in the plants you can see, but the fungi you can't.
Alun Salt
Plant records: Can a plant be too trusting?
Name: Orchids Scientific name: Family: Orchidaceae Known for: Beauty, epiphytism, providing vanilla flavouring, tiny seeds, mycorrhizae, deceptive pollination, mycoheterotrophy, medicinal usage, vegetating Krakatoa…...
Nigel Chaffey
Plants enjoying the high life
Plants on Plants – The Biology of Vascular Epiphytes by Gerhard Zotz. Springer 2016. Gerhard Zotz’s The biology of vascular epiphytes [hereafter referred to as Epiphytes!] is part of Springer’s Fascinating Life Sciences...
Diuris population genomics
Conservation of orchid species (Orchidaceae) can be challenging, particularly for a small Diuris group of four species from southeastern Australia. To determine best conservation practices for the four species, Ahrens...
botanyone
An orchid with a partially mycoheterotrophic taste for truffles
Partially mycoheterotrophic nutrition is a widespread trophic strategy in green-leaved Orchidaceae species in forest habitats. Owing to the light limitation of their habitats, many forest orchids meet carbon demands...
It’s not easy being green: ecophysiological patterns of mycoheterotrophy in ectomycorrhizal Orchidaceae and Ericaceae
Autotrophy, though common among plants, isn’t the only way plants make a living. Some plants have lost all photosynthetic abilities and instead rely on symbiotic relationships with fungi. Even some leafy green plants...
Sexual and asexual reproduction in a mycoheterotrophic orchid
Sexual reproduction is common within Orchidaceae, though apomixis does occur in some genera allowing them to produce seeds that are clones of the mother. The reproductive embryology of mycoheterotrophic plants remains...
Strengthening the taxonomic backbone of Thai orchid conservation
Pedersen et al. present analyses of morphometric and AFLP data from populations of Geodorum (Orchidaceae) – a study conducted in preparation of the Flora of Thailand account. Patterns of phenetic variation and inferred...
Orchid conservation: further links
Fay introduces the often complex interactions of orchids with mycorrhizal fungi, pollinators and host trees, considering also threats from human utilization and changing land use. The Orchidaceae present particular...
Development and evolution of extremely complex flowers
The two very species-rich families Apocynaceae and Orchidaceae contain the most complex flowers in the angiosperms. Although they are not related they show a number of amazing convergent similarities in flower structure...
