Background and aims – The Orchidaceae family is vulnerable, because of the destruction of their habitat, as well as the extraction of individuals from natural populations. This is the case of the genus Rhynchostele Rchb.f.; among the actions considered important for appropriate conservation strategies for this genus is the generation of fundamental knowledge, such as on its reproductive biology. The objective of this work is to understand the mating system and reproductive success of Rhynchostele cervantesii, an endangered epiphytic orchid endemic to Mexico.Material and methods – Manual and open-pollination treatments were conducted during 2014 and 2015 in a cloud forest in Michoacan, Mexico. In each period, 30 to 40 randomly selected inflorescences were subjected to the following treatments: a) spontaneous-self-pollination, b) emasculation, c) self-pollination, d) cross-pollination, and e) open-pollination. The developed fruits were counted and harvested, the viability of the seeds was determined, through the observation and evaluation of embryos using microscopy.Key results – Significant differences were recorded between the treatments in both 2014 and 2015, with higher fruit production in cross-pollination than in self-pollination and natural-pollination. There were significant differences in seed viability, with higher values for seeds from open-pollination and cross-pollination and lower values for seeds from self-pollination.Conclusions – Rhynchostele cervantesii is a species that requires pollinators for sexual reproduction because there is no fruit production with spontaneous-self-pollination. Under pollen limitation, the fruit set of natural pollination was a lot lower than in cross-pollination although fruits were the same quality. R. cervantesii had a mixed mating system with a tendency to exogamy, presenting high values of female reproductive success compared to other tropical epiphytic orchid species reported in the literature.

Background and Aims: Orchids in Mexico are mainly threatened by deforestation, changes in land use, illegal trade, deficiencies in environmental policy and legislation, and a lack of community participation in the conservation of their forests. Erycina hyalinobulbon is an endemic twig epiphyte orchid with a short life cycle and with large flowers in relation to its size, for which it has been harvested from its wild populations. The objectives of this work were to evaluate the in vitro development of E. hyalinobulbon in culture media with organic supplements, to compare sucrose vs. N’Joy Stevia® as a carbon source for its initial stages of development, and to evaluate the development of its seedlings in media enriched with plant growth regulators (PGR).Methods: For the sowing of seeds, PhytamaxTM and MS medium at 30% of its basal salts were used in combination with organic supplement (coconut milk, pineapple puree and banana puree), along with the Phy medium used as control. In order to measure the effect of sucrose vs. N´Joy Stevia® as a carbon source, these two treatments were used, with the PhytamaxTM medium. To evaluate the development of seedlings with PGR, three treatments were tested: the 100% PhytamaxTM control, 30% PhytamaxTM with 1.166 ml/l of Maxi-grow and the medium Chiu.Key results: PhytamaxTM medium added with banana promoted germination by 9.3%, being a low cost and easy production option. Ninety days after sowing, N´Joy Stevia® as a carbon source promoted germination by 8%. The best development of the seedlings was registered in the medium PhytamaxTM without PGR.Conclusions: With this study, it was possible to develop an accessible in vitro propagation system for E. hyalinobulbon, in order to sustainably manage it and favor its conservation.