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Aa Rchb.f. 1854, is a genus of plants belonging to the family Orchidaceae. The genus name apparently was rendered by the author to always appear first in alphabetical listings. Another - disputed - explanation, is that Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach named this genus after Pieter van der Aa; the printer of the Dutch botanist Paul Herman's "Paradisus Batavus"[1].
Species in this genus can be found growing terrestrially in cold habitats near the snowline in the Andes and also in Costa Rica; they are usually found close to small streams. The elongated inflorescence grows from a basal rosette of leaves, terminating in a small white upside down flower with the lip at the top. This lip is fringed and hood-shaped. The flower gives off a pungent smell that attracts flies. This genus has often been confused with the orchid genus Altensteinia.
Species
- Aa achalensis Schltr. 1920 (Argentina)
- Aa argyrolepis Rchb.f. 1854 (Colombia to Ecuador)
- Aa calceata (Rchb.f.) Schltr. 1912 (Peru to Bolivia)
- Aa colombiana Schltr. 1920 (Colombia to Ecuador)
- Aa denticulata Schltr. 1920 (Colombia to Ecuador)
- Aa erosa (Rchb.f.) Schltr. 1912 (Peru)
- Aa fiebrigii (Schltr.) Schltr. 1912 (Bolivia)
- Aa gymnandra (Rchb.f.) Schltr. 1912 (Bolivia)
- Aa hartwegii Garay 1978 (Ecuador; Colombia; Venezuela)
- Aa hieronymi (Cogn.) Schltr. 1912 (Argentina)
- Aa inaequalis (Rchb.f.) Schltr. 1912 (Peru to Bolivia)
- Aa leucantha (Rchb.f.) Schltr. 1920 (Colombia to Ecuador)
- Aa lorentzii Schltr. 1920 (Argentina)
- Aa macra Schltr. 1921 (Ecuador)
- Aa maderoi Schltr. 1920 (Venezuela; Colombia; Ecuador)
- Aa mandonii (Rchb.f.) Schltr. 1912 (Peru to Bolivia)
- Aa matthewsii (Rchb.f.) Schltr. 1912 (Peru)
- Aa microtidis Schltr. 1922 (Bolivia)
- Aa nervosa (Kraenzl.) Schltr. 1912 (Chile)
- Aa palacea (Kunth) Rchb.f. 1854 (Costa Rica to Bolivia)
- Aa riobambae Schltr. 1921 (Ecuador)
- Aa rosei Ames 1922 (Peru)
- Aa schickendanzii Schltr. 1920 (Argentina)
- Aa sphaeroglossa Schltr. 1922 (Bolivia)
- Aa trilobulata Schltr. 1922 (Bolivia)
- Aa weddeliana (Rchb.f.) Schltr. 1912 (Peru to NW Argentina)