AboutOrchids

I didn’t learn much in my high school biology class, but many years later, I can still remember one thing: King Phillip Came Out For Green Seeds. That sentence, stuck in my head thanks to the power of mnemonics, is a useful memory trick for the levels of scientific classification of all living things: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. Botanists usually say “division” instead of “phylum,” but that messes up my sentence, so I’m sticking with what I know. In addition, there are many sublevels, but these are the main groupings.

Why is this relevant to orchid names? These classifications show orchid relations to each other and to other plants. Orchid name tags show the bottom levels in the list, the genus and species, i.e. Dendrobium nobile. Species which are in the same genus, i.e. Dendrobium, are closely related to one another. They may crossbreed to produce hybrids, and may have similar care needs. Other closely related orchids can also produce hybrids, but none can crossbreed outside its family.

All orchids share the first 5 rows in the table below. Then they start to diverge into different groups below the family level. I’ve included some sublevels (subfamily, tribe, and subtribe) in these 3 examples to illustrate further divisions. Even for those of us who aren’t fond of long Latin names, it’s still possible to use these classifications to understand how the plants are related.

Scientific Classification of 3 Orchids

Kingdom	Plantae	Plantae	Plantae
Division	Magnoliophyta	Magnoliophyta	Magnoliophyta
Class	Liliopsida	Liliopsida	Liliopsida
Order	Asparagales	Asparagales	Asparagales
Family	Orchidaceae	Orchidaceae	Orchidaceae
Subfamily	Epidendroideae	Epidendroideae	Cypripedioideae
Tribe	Arethuseae	Epidendreae	Phragmipedieae
Subtribe	Bletiinae	Pleurothallidinae	Phragmipediinae
Genus	Arundina	Masdevallia	Phragmipedium
Species	Arundina graminifolia	Masdevallia chaparensis	Phragmipedium kovachii

There are more sublevels below species, and orchid name tags often include them. Variations within species can show up as cultivars or awarded plants. Cultivar names and awards follow the genus and species names, i.e. Dendrobium victoria-reginae ‘Blues Brothers’ HCC/AOS.

For more detailed info on scientific classification of orchids, and a breakdown of the orchid family tree, check Wikipedia’s page on orchid taxonomy.

Explore posts in the same categories: Orchid Names

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012 at 2:46 pm and is filed under Orchid Names.

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