Amerorchis rotundifolia

[RosieC]

seems a bit extreem to me

Do you know where I can find information on which of the Genus make up the Orchis alliance? I really can't find any info on it.

[ronaldhanko]

Originally Posted by RosieC

seems a bit extreem to me

Do you know where I can find information on which of the Genus make up the Orchis alliance? I really can't find any info on it.

Rosie,
Dressler in his Phylogeny and Classification of the Orchid family, puts Orchis and related genera in the subfamily Orchidoideae and lists three tribes, Diurideae, Orchideae and Diseae which include such Australian genera as Diuris, Thelymitra, Caladenia, Pterostylis, Corybas, Rhizanthella (the underground orchid), as well as Amerorchis, Dactylorhiza, Gymnadenia, Platanthera, Orchis, Piperia, Serapias, Ophrys, and many other of the North American and European terrestrial orchids, plus African and Asian genera such as Habenaria, Disa, Satyrium. Most are terrestrial and have some sort of tuber from which they grow. Many of these genera are not in cultivation because they are terrestrial and grow in temperate regions, making them difficult to keep in cultivation.
Hope that helps. If you want a complete list of the genera I can get you one.

[RosieC]

Thanks Ron, that will help me enough for now.

I'm trying to get a handle on all these Alliances as well as Tribes and Sub-Tribes and the similarities/differences between orchids which are closely/distantly related.

Of course the fact that classifications are not fixed and they keep changing their mind on these things really dosn't help and still being quite new at this I really haven't got a handle on all the genus changes which keep happening.

I'm starting to get a better understanding of the clasification system now though (I think).

[ronaldhanko]

Dressler's book would be a help.

[RosieC]

I've made a note of it and I will see if I can find it. Thanks Ron.

[whiteorchid]

hello Rosie,
pls take a look to this link.
you will find a line drawing of Amerorchis,
and you can see, that in fact it has a "creeping" rhizom instead of a "Orchislike" tuber.

insofar I severely doubt, that it belongs to the
"european Orchis" family.

Rundblättriges Knabenkraut ? Wikipedia

[ronaldhanko]

Originally Posted by whiteorchid

hello Rosie,
pls take a look to this link.
you will find a line drawing of Amerorchis,
and you can see, that in fact it has a "creeping" rhizom instead of a "Orchislike" tuber.

insofar I severely doubt, that it belongs to the
"european Orchis" family.

Rundblättriges Knabenkraut ? Wikipedia

A family is a large grouping that can include very diverse species and very widely separated species. It is based on more characteristics than just a tuberous or rhizomatous root. Even the link given puts Amerorchis in the subfamily Orchidoideae.