Dendrophylax lindenii
| Ghost orchid | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Genus: | Dendrophylax |
| Species: | D. lindenii |
| Binomial name | |
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Dendrophylax lindenii (Lindl.) Benth. ex Rolfe |
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| Synonyms | |
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Dendrophylax lindenii, the ghost orchid (a common name also used for Epipogium aphyllum) is a perennial epiphyte from the orchid family (Orchidaceae). It is native to Florida, Cuba and the Bahamas. Other common names include palm polly and white frog orchid.
Its specific epithet "lindenii" is derived from its discoverer, the Belgian plant collector Jean Jules Linden who saw this orchid for the first time in Cuba in 1844. Much later it was also discovered in the Everglades in Florida.
Dendrophylax lindenii is a leafless epiphyte in the tribe Vandeae, in the subfamily Epidendroideae. The plant consists mainly of a network of photosynthetic roots on a tree trunk. Its habitat is moist, swampy forest in south-western Florida and Caribbean islands such as Cuba.
This orchid is exceptional among the monocots, in that it consists of a greatly reduced stem and its leaves have been reduced to scales. The flat, cord-like green roots constitute the bulk of the mature plant. They bear distinctive white "track marks", for which the technical term is and are believed to function partly like stomata, enabling the photosynthetic roots to perform the gas exchange necessary for respiration and photosynthesis. Chloroplasts in these flattened roots perform practically all the plant's photosynthesis. Their outer layer is an example of the velamen typical of most epiphytic orchids. Its functions include the absorption of nutrients and water, and admission of light for photosynthesis.
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