Orchid Fruit Diversity at Puebla Mexico: A New Insight into the Biodiversity of a Fragmented Ecosystem with Need for Conservation and Potential for Horticultural Exploitations in Future

An Exploratory Study of Orchidaceae Species Fruits in the Central Zone of Veracruz State, Mexico

“…Fruit shapes can vary (Figures 2 and 3) and only two of them showed spiniform protuberances or warts (Figures 2C and 2P). The observations of this study confirm the conclusions of Cetzal-Ix et al (2014), on the need for further research regarding orchid fruits. Although the results of this work support the idea that fruit morphometrics and their images could help in the identification of the orchids shown, as suggested by Reyes-López et al (2014) and Rojas-García and Maldonado-Peralta (2021), when they are not in flowering season, it is necessary to expand the study of systematic botany of orchid species that includes the detailed description of the fruits.…”

“…Regarding fruit size, there are also contrasts. For example, the largest fruit size recorded was of Epidendrum parkinsonianum species (12.5 cm, Figure 3F), followed by Rhyncholaelia glauca fruit (12.35 cm, Figure 3R), Catasetum integerrimum capsule 12 x 5.2 cm (Figure 3A) and Stanhopea oculata fruit 11 x 2 cm (Figure 3), which coincides with the size reported by Cetzal-Ix et al (2014). There are also very tiny orchid fruits, such as those of the species Specklinia digitale, measuring only 0.3 x 0.1 cm 2O) or those of Platystele stenostachya measuring 0.5 x 0.2 cm (Figure 2M), which coincide with those reported by Cetzal-Ix et al (2014).…”

“…For example, the largest fruit size recorded was of Epidendrum parkinsonianum species (12.5 cm, Figure 3F), followed by Rhyncholaelia glauca fruit (12.35 cm, Figure 3R), Catasetum integerrimum capsule 12 x 5.2 cm (Figure 3A) and Stanhopea oculata fruit 11 x 2 cm (Figure 3), which coincides with the size reported by Cetzal-Ix et al (2014). There are also very tiny orchid fruits, such as those of the species Specklinia digitale, measuring only 0.3 x 0.1 cm 2O) or those of Platystele stenostachya measuring 0.5 x 0.2 cm (Figure 2M), which coincide with those reported by Cetzal-Ix et al (2014). In contrast, the widest fruits were of the species Catasetum integerrimum (4.2 cm, Figure 3A) and Lycaste aromatica (3.2 cm, Figure 3K) and the narrowest fruits were of the species Specklinia digitale (0.1 cm, Figure 2O) and Platystele stenostachya (0.2 cm, Figure 2M) (Table 2).…”

“…However, studies on fruits in relation to their seed qualities for propagation purposes are scarce (Arditti and Ghani, 2000), and studies on ecosystems health are even scarcer. The study by Cetzal-Ix et al (2014) on the diversity of orchid fruits in fragments of mesophyll forest and high evergreen forest in the municipality of Cuetzalan del Progreso, Puebla, Mexico, is considered to be the pioneer in evaluating the health of an ecosystem, by estimating its equilibrium using flowering, fruits and their morphometry as variables, in addition to providing guidance on some measures for its conservation. This scarcity of scientific data makes it necessary to expand the knowledge on fruits of more Mexican orchid species, which would allow the identification of species when they are not in the flowering stage.…”

What are the species of phorophytes of Vanilla palmarum (Orchidaceae) in Brazil? An assessment of emblematic specificity with palm tree species

“…The preservation of S. schizophylla, M. flexuosa and the other seven palm species would also conserve V. palmarum, as well as other orchids and epiphytes that use them as phorophytes. Inversely, since Orchidaceae is a flagship plant group (Rech et al 2011;Cetzal-Ix et al 2014), V. palmarum may be used to indirectly ensure the protection of palm species and ecological interactions, including plant-animal relationships.…”