Meliorchis
Meliorchis caribea is an extinct, early to middle Mioceneorchid known only from a packet of pollen attached to the wing of a stingless bee, Proplebeia dominicana, trapped in Dominicanamber. It was the first fossil orchid ever described, and allowed for a revised estimate of the time of origin of the Orchidaceae to the Mesozoic.[1] Morphology of the pollinium suggests that M. caribea is closely related to the modern genusLigeophila.
References
- ↑Santiago R. Ramírez; Barbara Gravendeel; Rodrigo B. Singer; Charles R. Marshall; Naomi E. Pierce (30 August 2007). "Dating the origin of the Orchidaceae from a fossil orchid with its pollinator". Nature. 448 (7157): 1042–5. Bibcode:2007Natur.448.1042R. doi:10.1038/nature06039. PMID 17728756. S2CID 4402181.
Categories:
- Goodyerinae
- Miocene plants
- Monotypic Orchidoideae genera
- Cranichideae genera
- Prehistoric angiosperm genera
- Orchidoideae stubs
- Paleobotany stubs