Flickingeria
| Flickingeria | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Epidendroideae |
| Tribe: | Dendrobieae |
| Subtribe: | Dendrobiinae |
| Genus: |
Flickingeria A. D. Hawkes |
| Synonyms | |
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Flickingeria, abbreviated as Flkga in horticultural trade, is a genus of orchids (although no longer an accepted one ) consisting of more than 60 species found from the Himalaya to Southeast Asia, Indonesia through New Guinea, which are now correctly placed in the genus Dendrobium. It (Flickingeria) possesses not only ornamental, but also medicinal value. Named by botanist Alex Drum Hawkes after horticulturalist Edward Flickinger of Coconut Grove, Florida.
The genus has been reported to contain phenanthrenoids. The species Flickingeria fimbriata (now known correctly as Dendrobium plicatile) has yielded three phenanthrenes in a study undertaken in the year 2000, the structures of these being 2,5-dihydroxy-4,9,10-trimethoxyphenanthrene, 2,5-dihydroxy-4-methoxyphenanthrene and 2,5,9-trihydroxy-4-methoxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene. These molecules have been given the names plicatol A, B and C. F. fimbriata has also been found to contain norditerpenoids and to possess hepatoprotective properties.
Under the older name of Ephemerantha macraei, Flickingeria macraei,now known correctly as Dendrobium macraei has been reported to have been employed by tantric magicians, in the course of religious rituals, as a psychoactive aid to divination, the tubers of the orchid being ingested for this purpose. The fleshy roots of another orchid, Vanda tessellata were also used in the same way and for the same purpose.
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