Cottonia Explained

Cottonia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae: the only known species is Cottonia peduncularis. It is native to India and Sri Lanka. The genus was erected by Robert Wight and named after Major Frederick Cotton, an amateur botanist who served in the Madras Engineer Group and collected the species from Tellichery. A coloured illustration of the plant had been sent to Wight by Thomas C. Jerdon.^{[1] [2] [3]}

This epiphytic orchid has a lip shaped like a hairy bee (as in the well-known Ophrys apifera) giving it the name of bee-orchid but, unlike species in the genus Ophrys, no specific bee pollinator has been identified. It was first described as Vanda peduncularis by Lindley.^{[4] [5]}

See also

• List of Orchidaceae genera

Notes and References

1. Book: Wight, R.. 1851. Icones Plantarum Indiae Orientalis . 5. 21.
2. Curtis's Botanical Magazine. 46. 1890. Cottonia macrostachya. 7099.
3. Berg Pana, H. 2005. Handbuch der Orchideen-Namen. Dictionary of Orchid Names. Dizionario dei nomi delle orchidee. Ulmer, Stuttgart
4. The Garden. 1885. 51. Orchids. Vanda peduncularis. [F.W.B.].
5. Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P., Chase, M.W. & Rasmussen, F.N. (Eds) (2014) Genera Orchidacearum Volume 6: Epidendroideae (Part 3); page 168 ff., Oxford: Oxford University Press.