Aa (plant)

Aa
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Cranichideae
Subtribe: Prescottiinae
Genus: Aa
Rchb.f., 1854

Species
See text

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)

Reference

http://www.kew.org/wcsp/qsearch.do

External links