Native to Central and South America and the Caribbean
Edited 5 July 2007
© Nina Rach
Elleanthus is a large genus of colorful, tropical American orchids with foliage akin to Sobralia. The name comes from the Greek Ellh Elle and anqoV anthos (flower).
In Greek mythology, "Helle" or Helena, was the daughter of Athamus, king of Thessaly, and Nephele, a nymph.
The
Hellespont was named in her honor; also known as the Dardanelles, the strait between the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara (Turkey).
The genus Elleanthus was originally described by Carl Borivoj Presl (1794-1852), and published in 1827 in: Rel. Haenk. 1:97. The type species: E. lancifolius.
The plants are terrestrial (e.g. E. crocea) or epiphytic (e.g. E. graminifolius), with grassy to leathery leaves. The flowers are usually borne in dense apical clusters, and occur in almost every color. Hummingbird-pollinated. 54 chromosomes, 8 soft, oval pollinia.
There have been nine American Orchid Society (AOS) awards to members of this genus through 2004.
A probable synonym for the genus is Pseudelleanthus Brieger [cited in G. Harling & B. Sparre [Eds.] (1973-). Flora of Ecuador (F Ecuador)] and a possible synonym is Epilyna Schlechter.
Dr. Kerry Barringer (e-mail:
kerrybarringer@bbg.org) is on the Science Dept. staff of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and Curator of the Herbarium. He is currently working on taxonomy of the genus Elleanthus.
Classification according to Dressler (1993, p.190, 274):
Elleanthus aureus 'Luis Carlos Vierra' CBR/AOS
Awarded March 6, 1991 at the Pereira Third International Orchid Show, Pereira, Colombia.
"Sixty-eight flowers and 86 buds on 11 inflorescences borne on a nicely flowered plant; flowers tubular, yellow, enclosed by bright purple bracts on top of bamboo-like 18-cm foliage; recognized for charming flowers of a genus rarely seen in cultivation. Nat. spr. 0.4cm, 1.0cm vert; ds 0.2cm w, 1.0cm l; pet 0.3cm w, 0.9cm l; ls 0.3cm w, 0.9cm l; lip 0.3cm w, 1.0cm l." Exhibited by Jose Antonio Gonzalez, Cali, Colombia.
Elleanthus caravata 'NYBG' CCM/AOS 87 pts
Awarded December 2002 in Boston. AQ 34/226.
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Elleanthus caravata 'NYBG' CCE/AOS 94 pts
Awarded _____ in _____. AQ Vol/page.
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Elleanthus caravata 'Woodstream' CBR/AOS
Awarded September 1998 in the National Capitol Judging Center, Washington D.C. AQ 30/179.
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Elleanthus curtii 'Los Ruiz' CHM/AOS 84 pts
Awarded November 1984 in ___. AQ 16/210.
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Elleanthus hymenophorus 'Interlaken' CHM/AOS 83 pts
Awarded May 1998 in Tampa. AQ 29/360.
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Elleanthus longibracteatus 'Ana Ligia' CHM/AOS 86 pts
Awarded March 1987 in Costa Rica, to Ana Ligia Chaves. AQ 18/220.
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Elleanthus purpureus 'Clara Angel' CHM/AOS 90 pts
Awarded March 2000 in Colombia. AQ 31/269.
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Elleanthus sodiroi 'Madison' CBR/AOS
Awarded February 2002 in Wisconsin. AQ 33/243.
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Elleanthus sphaerocephala 'Eichenfels Goozle' CBR/AOS
Awarded October 1998 in NYC. AQ 30/179.
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Kerry Barringer (1985) "Three new species of Elleanthus (Orchidaceae) from Central America," in: Brittonia 37(3): 286-290 (1985) - illus., map.
Mexico: M.A. Arenas Soto (1986) "El genero Elleanthus en Mexico y una nueva especie de Guerrero, Elleanthus teotepecensis. The new genus Elleanthus in Mexico and a new species from Guerrero, Elleanthus teotepecensis," in: Orquidea (Mexico) 10(1): 161-190 (1986) - illus., col. illus., key.
Belize: Michael J. Balick, Michael H. Nee, Daniel E. Atha (2000) Checklist of the vascular plants of Belize, with common names and uses. The New York Botanic Garden Press. [Elleanthus caricoides, cynarocephalus, linifolius] Website:
http://www.nybg.org/bsci/belize/checklist.html
Guatemala: Margaret A. Dix and Michael W. Dix (2000) "Orchids of Guatemala: A Revised Annotated Checklist," Monographs in Systematic Botany 78. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, 61 p. [Elleanthus capitatus, E. caricoides, E. cynarocephalus, E. graminifolius, E. hymenophorus, E. linifolius, E. poiformis]
Guatemala: Moisés Behar and Otto Tinschert (1998) Guatemala y sus Orquideas/Guatemala and its Orchids. Guatemala Ciudad: MayaPrin/Trade Litho, 240 págs. [Book with CD]
Guatemala: Moisés Behar and Otto Tinschert (1998) Guatemala y sus Orquideas/Guatemala and its Orchids. Guatemala City: Bancafé, Edición bilingüe español-inglés, contiene CD ROM. [CD sold separately]
Nicaragua: Inventory of Ometepe Reserve Foundation [Elleanthus coricoide et al.]
Costa Rica:
Manual de la Flora de Costa Rica [20 species]
Costa Rica:
J. Francisco Morales (2001) Orquideas, cactus y bromelias del bosque seco de Costa Rica (Orchids, Cacti and Bromeliads of the Dry Forest). Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica : Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, INBio, 162p. [Elleanthus longibracteatus, color illus. on pp. 56-57]
Costa Rica:
Stephen W. Ingram, Epiphytes of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, [Elleanthus aurantiacus; E. glaucophyllum; E. tonduzii]
Costa Rica:
"Checklist of the orchids of Rara Avis", Rainforest Lodge & Reserve, Costa Rica [E. caricoides; E. graminifolius; E. hymenophorus; E. jimenezii;
E. linifolius; E. robustus; E. stolonifer]
Panama:
Robert L. Dressler (1980) "Checklist of the Orchids of Panama," in: Orchids of Panama. 590 pages (pp. I-XXVI). Missouri Botanical Garden. [9 Elleanthus sp.: aurantiacus, capitatus, curtii, hymenophorus, jimenezii, lancifolium, longibracteatus, linifolius, muscicola]
Panama:
Louis Otho Williams (8 March 1946) Orchidaceae, Flora of Panama Part III. Fascicle 2., pp. 107-246, in: Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 33: 30. [7 Elleanthus sp.: capitatus, hymenophorus, trilobatus (drawing), aurantiacus, laxus, linifolius, muscicola]
Panama:
G. Zotz, H. Ziegler (Oct. 1997) "The occurrence of crassulacean acid metabolism among vascular epiphytes from Central Panama," in: New Phytologist Vol. 137, Issue 2, pp. 223-229. [Elleanthus; Sobralia]
Lesser Antilles:
Leslie A. Garay and Herman R. Sweet (1974) "Orchidaceae," in: Richard A. Howard, Flora of the Lesser Antilles. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, 235p. [Elleanthus capitatus, caravata, cephalotus, dussii, lepidus, longibracteatus]
Antilles:
J. Carlos Trejo-Torres and James D Ackerman (June 2001) "Biogeography of the Antilles based on a parsimony analysis of orchid distributions," in: Journal of Biogeography Vol. 28, Issue 6, pp. 775-794. [Elleanthus]
Dominica: COBAHOR - Consejo del Bahoruco Oriental República Dominicana [Elleanthus cephalotus]
Flora Mesoamericana at MOBOT [22 species]
Colombia: Calaway H. Dodson (1996) "Two new orchid species from Colombia," in: Orquideologia 20(1): 3-9.
Colombia: Eva Ledezma, Giovanny Ramirez, Nayive Pino-Benitez (March 2006) "Forest Orchids of the Choco Region / Orquideas silvestres del Choco," in: Lyonia 10(1): 17-31. [Elleanthus capitatus, steyermarkii].
URL:
www.lyonia.org/downloadPDF.php?pdfID=2.396.&PHPSESSID=d3bb843e3094e7067d18e851731d8403
Colombia: Pedro Ortiz Valdivieso, S.J. (1976) Orquideas de Colombia. Bogota. p.105 [line drawing of E. aurantiacus (Lindley) Rchb.f.]
Venezuela: G.C.K. Dunsterville (1979) "Some Venezuelan Elleanthus species," in: American Orchid Society Bulletin 48: 665-671.
Venezuela: G.C.K. Dunsterville and E. Dunsterville (1982) "Pinelia alticola and Elleanthus norae: a very short and a very tall story," in: Orchid Rev. 90(1068): 322-324 (1982)- illus.
Venezuela: G.C.K. Dunsterville and Leslie A. Garay (1963) Elleanthus wageneri Rchb.f., in: Orchid Review 71: 370-371.
Venezuela: G.C.K. Dunsterville and Leslie A. Garay (1979) Orchids of Venezuela: An Illustrated Field Guide. Massachusetts: Botanical Museum of Harvard University, 3 white volumes in a black slipcase.
[16 Elleanthus sp.: amethystinus, arpophyllostachys, aurantiacus, Caravata, columnaris, confusus, flavescens, furfuraceus, gracilis, graminifolius, lupulinus, Norae, oeconomicus, sphaerocephalus, tovarensis, Wageneri]
Venezuela: Ernesto Foldats (1970) Flora de Venezuela, vol. I, pp. 207-236. Edicion Especial del Instituto Botanico. [30 Elleanthus sp.: arpophyllostachys, attenuatus, aurantiacus, bractescens, cajamarcae, capitatus, caravata, casapensis, cephalophorus, columnaris,cynarocephalus, ensatus, flavescens, furfuraceus, galipanensis, gracilis, kermesinus,kermesinus var. aurantiaca simplex, lepidus, lindenii, lindenii var. cymbibracteus, linifolius, lupulinus, pallidiflavus, puber, sodiroi, strobilifer, tonduzii, tovarensis, wageneri]
Venezuela: Gustavo A. Romero and German Carnevali (2000) Orchids of Venezuela: An Illustrated Field Guide, Second Edition. Caracas: Armitano Editores, 3 gray volumes in a purple slipcase.
[17 Elleanthus sp.: amethystinus, arpophyllostachys, aurantiacus, Caravata, columnaris, confusus, flavescens, furfuraceus, gracilis, graminifolius, lupulinus, *malpighiiflorus, norae, oeconomicus, sphaerocephalus, tovarensis, wageneri]
Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana: Eric A. Christenson and J.K. Boggan (1996)
"Checklist of the Orchids of the Guianas"
[Elleanthus brasiliensis (Lindl.) Rchb.f. [FG];
E. caravata (Aubl.) Rchb.f. [GU SU FG];
E. cephalotus Garay & Sweet [GU SU FG];
E. crinipes Rchb.f. [FG];
E. furfuraceus (Lindl.) Rchb.f. [GU SU?];
E. graminifolius (Barb. Rodr.) Loijtnant [GU SU FG];
E. trilobatus Ames & Schweinf. [GU] ]
Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana:
The Plants of the Guianas Checklist (Choose: Search)
French Guiana: G. Cremers, M. Hoff, D. Barthelemy, E.A. Christenson, Ly. & L. Leneveu, & Ch. & Cl. Pawilowski (1992) Inventaire taxonomique des plantes de la Guyane francaise II - les Orchidacees. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat., Coll. Patr. Nat. (Ser. Patr. Genetique) 7: 1-144. [Elleanthus brasiliensis, caravata, cephalotus, linifolius, strobilifer]
Guyana: Iwokrama Plant Species List, Guyana [E. caravata (Aubl.) Rchb.f.]
Guyana: Preliminary Checklist of the Plants of Kaieteur National Park, Guyana: ANTHOPHYTA - MONOCOTYLEDONS [E. caravata (Aublet) Reichenbach f.; E. graminifolius (B. Rodrigues) Loijtnant]
Guyana: Y. Veyret (1981) "Quelques aspects du pistil et de son devenir chez quelques Sobraliinae (Orchidaceae) de Guyane," in: Bull. Mus. Nation. Hist. Nat., Adansonia 3(1): 75-83 - illus.
Brazil:
Lista das espécies vasculares da Serra da Juréia
[E. brasiliensis Rchb.f.: Nicolau 62]
Ecuador: K. Barringer (1987) "Two new species of Elleanthus (Orchidaceae) from Ecuador and Peru," in: Syst. Bot. 12(1): 162-166.
Ecuador: Calaway H. Dodson (1988) "A list of the orchid species reported for Ecuador" in: Orquídeas de la costa del Ecuador, pp. 115-129. [55 Elleanthus sp., from E. amethystinoides to E. zamorensis]
Ecuador: Bilsa Preliminary Plant List from The Equafor Library [E. aristatus; E. ecuadorensis; E. fractiflexus; E. robustus]
Ecuador: Inventory of the vascular plants of Maquipucuna, Ecuador
Monocot list [Elleanthus species: ampliflorus, aurantiacus, capitatus, discolor, fractiflexus, gastroglottis, graminifolius, linifolius, petrogeiton, robustus, smithii, vernicosus]
Ecuador: Latinoviajes Ecoturismo: ORQUIDEOLOGIA [E. graminifolius in coastal region]
Ecuador:
El Pahuma Orchid Reserve, Ecuador - Six different Elleanthus listed on the Orchid Species list compiled by Philip Myers
Peru: D.E. Bennettt Jr. & Eric A. Christenson (1998) "New species of Peruvian Orchidaceae V," in: Lindleyana 13(1): 31-56. [Elleanthus caveroi, p. 33, AM 1300 m]
Peru: C. Schweinfurth (1958) "Orchids of Peru I," in: Fieldiana: Botany 30(1).
Peru: D.L. Szlachetko (1996) "New Elleanthus species from Peru," in: Orchidee suppl.3: 23-28.
Peru: Photo by Carlos Hajek, of an
unidentified Elleanthus species found growing at Machu Pichu, Peru
[not E. furfuraceus]
Peru:
Rio Alto Mayo Orchids, Peru [photos of an unidentified lavender Elleanthus species]
Peru: Conference Report from Leipzig, 1996 [in Spanish]
Andes: Great images of nine species at Orquideas Sua Mena
General References:
Robert L. Dressler (1973) "Elleanthus capitatus - a name that must be changed, or is it?," in: Amer. Orchid Soc. Bull. 42(5): 419-420.
Robert L. Dressler (1993) Phylogeny and Classification of the Orchid Family. Portland: Dioscorides Press, 314p. [drawing of pollinia of E. capitatus, Fig. 10-1; color photo of lavender-red Elleanthus sp. from Panama, Plate 10, no. 60.]
Description of Elleanthus seed type, p.53: "Dust-like kernel seeds about 200um long. Basal and apical testa cells slightly elongate, medial cells strongly elongate and twisted, deeply troughlike in cross section, with clear cell-border ridges; periclinal walls with strong, longitudinally reticulate thickenings."
G.C.K. Dunsterville (1971) "Elleanthus capitatus, the jelly orchid," in:
Orchid Rev. 79(931): 17-19.
Leslie A. Garay (Jan. 1978) "Studies in American Orchids X," in: Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard Univ. 26(1):1-38. [Elleanthus brasiliensis, capitatus, casapensis, cephalotus, cynarocephalus, glomera,hookeranus, killipii, sodiroi, sphaerocephalus, confusus, formosus]
Fritz Hamer (1988) "Orchids of Central America: An Illustrated Field Guide (A-L)," in: Selbyana 10(Suppl.):1-430. [Line drawings of: Elleanthus alberti, aurantiacus, caricoides, curtii, cynarocephalus, discolor, graminifolius, hymenophorus, poiformis, tonduzii, wercklei]
ING: Index Nominum Genericorum, from the U.S. National Herbarium, Dept. of Systematic Biology - Botany, Smithsonian Institution
International Plant Names Index [IPNI],
www.ipni.org
Bernt Løjtnant (1977) "Observations on the Elleanthus linifolius alliance (Orchidaceae) in S America," in: Bot. Notiser 129: 445-453.
Orchideen Sammlung [E. furfuraceous and E. longibracteatus]
Richard Evans Schultes and Arthur Stanley Pease (1963) Generic Names of Orchids, Their Origin and Meaning. New York: Academic Press. 331pp. (Elleanthus text p. 126, illus. of Elleanthus capitatus p. 127, Plate E-1)
Tom Sheehan and Marion Sheehan (1999) "Orchid genera illustrated: 186. Elleanthus," in: Orchids 68(1): 38-39.
