Ponthieva


Ponthieva is a genus in the orchid family, commonly known as the shadow witch. They are named after Henry de Ponthieu, an English merchant of Huguenot ancestry who sent West Indian plant collections to Sir Joseph Banks in 1778.
Ponthieva is widely distributed in the southeastern United States, the West Indies, and Latin America from Mexico to Argentina.
They are mainly terrestrial plants with sympodial growth, but some are epiphytes. Their fibrous root show long and soft hairs. Some of the branches are thickened. The simple stem grows from rhizomes and carries thin, basal leaves with a slight to a somewhat longer stalk. The few to many, erect flowers grow on bracteate peduncles in a terminal raceme. Their dorsal sepal is slightly joined to the petals at the apex. The petals are free or sometimes fused to lower flanks of the column. The lateral sepals are distinct or joined.
The clawed lip is fused to the base of the short column. This is semiterete, i.e. in the form of a cylinder, rounded on one side and flat on the other. It is slightly winged towards the pointed apex.
There are four, yellow, club-shaped pollinia that are joined in pairs.

Species

Species accepted as of June 2014:
  1. Ponthieva andicola Rchb.f.
  2. Ponthieva appendiculata Schltr.
  3. Ponthieva bicornuta C.Schweinf.
  4. Ponthieva brenesii Schltr.
  5. Ponthieva brittoniae Ames : Britton's Shadow Witch
  6. Ponthieva campestris Garay
  7. Ponthieva collantesii D.E.Benn. & Christenson
  8. Ponthieva cornuta Rchb.f.
  9. Ponthieva curvilabia Garay
  10. Ponthieva cuyujana Dodson & Hirtz
  11. Ponthieva diptera Linden & Rchb.f. : Two-winged Ponthieva
  12. Ponthieva disema Schltr.
  13. Ponthieva dunstervillei Foldats
  14. Ponthieva elegans Schltr.
  15. Ponthieva ephippium Rchb.f.
  16. Ponthieva fertilis Salazar
  17. Ponthieva formosa Schltr.
  18. Ponthieva garayana Dodson & R.Vásquez
  19. Ponthieva gimana Dodson
  20. Ponthieva gracilis Renz
  21. Ponthieva hameri Dressler
  22. Ponthieva hassleri Schltr.
  23. Ponthieva hildae R.González & Soltero
  24. Ponthieva inaudita Rchb.f. : Unheard Ponthieva
  25. Ponthieva insularis Dressler
  26. Ponthieva keraia Garay & Dunst.
  27. Ponthieva lilacina C.Schweinf.
  28. Ponthieva maculata Lindl. : Spotted Ponthieva
  29. Ponthieva mandonii Rchb.f.
  30. Ponthieva mexicana Salazar
  31. Ponthieva microglossa Schltr.
  32. Ponthieva nigricans Schltr.
  33. Ponthieva oligoneura Schltr.
  34. Ponthieva ovatilabia C.Schweinf.
  35. Ponthieva parvilabris Rchb.f. : Small-lipped Ponthieva
  36. Ponthieva parvula Schltr.
  37. Ponthieva pauciflora Fawc. & Rendle
  38. Ponthieva petiolata Lindl., Bot. Reg. 9: t. 760
  39. Ponthieva phaenoleuca Cogn. in C.F.P.von Martius & auct. suc.
  40. Ponthieva pilosissima Dodson : Hairy Ponthieva
  41. Ponthieva pseudoracemosa Garay
  42. Ponthieva pubescens C.Schweinf.
  43. Ponthieva pulchella Schltr.
  44. Ponthieva racemosa C.Mohr : Hairy Shadow Witch, Racemose Ponthieva
  45. Ponthieva rinconii Salazar
  46. Ponthieva rostrata Lindl.
  47. Ponthieva schaffneri E.W.Greenw.
  48. Ponthieva similis C.Schweinf.
  49. Ponthieva sprucei Cogn. in C.F.P.von Martius & auct. suc.
  50. Ponthieva sylvicola Rchb.f.
  51. Ponthieva triloba Schltr. : Three-lobed Lip Ponthieva
  52. Ponthieva trilobata L.O.Williams
  53. Ponthieva tuerckheimii Schltr.
  54. Ponthieva tunguraguae Garay
  55. Ponthieva unguiculata Ames & C.Schweinf.
  56. Ponthieva vasquezii Dodson
  57. Ponthieva ventricosa Fawc. & Rendle : Smooth Shadow Witch
  58. Ponthieva venusta Schltr.
  59. Ponthieva villosa Lindl. in G.Bentham
  60. Ponthieva viridilimbata Dressler
  61. Ponthieva weberbaueri Schltr.