Amesiella monticola explained

Amesiella monticola is a miniature species of epiphytic orchid native to the Philippines. The specific epithet "monticola" refers to the montaneous habitat of the species. Monticola is a combination of "mons" or "montis", meaning mountain and "cola" or "colere" meaning "inhabitant" or "dweller".^[1]

Description

These monopodial herbs form small, leathery leaves.^[2] The genus Amesiella forms white flowers with long spurs.^[3] The 1–6 very large flowers in relation to the vegetative parts of the plants are borne on short, axillary racemes. They have a characteristic long, twisted spur, indicating moth pollination.^[4] The flowers are purely white, devoid of any golden pigmentation of the labellum. This separates it from Amesiella philippinensis.

Taxonomy

By some this species is treated as a mere variation of Amesiella philippinensis. Hence, it is synonymous with Amesiella philippinensis var. monticola.^[5]

Conservation

This species is critically endangered and its population is decreasing.

Notes and References

1. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London, United Kingdom: Christopher Helm. pp. 260, 348. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
2. Teoh E.S. (2021) Amesiella Schltr. ex Garay. In: Orchid Species from Himalaya and Southeast Asia Vol. 1 (A - E). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58872-4_9
3. Eur. J. Entomol. 112(2): 393–397, 2015doi: 10.14411/eje.2015.031ISSN 1210-5759 (print), 1802-8829 (online)
4. Genera Orchidacearum Volume 6: Epidendroideae (Part 3)Alec M. Pridgeon / Phillip J. Cribb / Mark W. Chase / Finn N. Rasmussen2014OUP OxfordISBN 978-0-19-100389-9
5. 1005530-1 . Amesiella monticola . 20 February 2022.