FoI
Acampe Orchid   
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Acampe Orchid
N Native Orchid
Photo: Rahul Prabhu Khanolkar
Common name: Acampe orchid, Maravasha (Marathi), Taliyamaravada (Malayalam)
Botanical name: Acampe praemorsa    Family: Orchidaceae (orchid family)

Acampe is a genus of seven orchid species distributed from tropical Africa to India, eastwards to China and southwards to Malaya, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea. The name Acampe was derived from the Greek word akampas, meaning "rigid", referring to the little, brittle, inflexible flowers. These species produce slow-growing, medium-sized vines that form very large vegetative masses in nature. They are noted for their thick, leathery, distichous leaves. They produce fragrant small to medium-sized yellow flowers, barred with brown stripes, in a few to many-flowered racemose inflorescence. The brittle sepals and petals look alike. The ear-shaped, fringed, white labellum (lip) is saccate (sac-shaped) or has a spur, and has red markings at its base. The fleshy column is short and has two waxy pollinia. Due to their large size and small flowers, they are rarely cultivated. Acampe praemorsa is native to India and Srilanka.
Identification credit: Rahul Prabhu Khanolkar