Orchids
Broadway's Catasetum
Catasetum macrocarpum
Photo: Orchi · European Orchid Congress, Dresden (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Trinidad and Tobago is home to over 200 native orchid species, an extraordinary richness for islands of their size. Catasetum macrocarpum is among the most distinctive: a large, robust epiphyte whose flowers fire pollen-bearing pollinia at visiting bees with mechanical force.
Description
A pseudobulbous epiphyte growing on rough-barked trees in lowland and lower-montane forest. Flower spikes carry waxy, fleshy blooms in muted green, yellow, and bronze. Male and female flowers differ markedly in shape - an unusual trait among orchids - and the male flowers possess a spring-loaded mechanism that flings pollinia onto visiting euglossine bees.
Where to See
Mature trees in forested areas of the Northern Range and Central Range. The Asa Wright Nature Centre and surrounding Arima Valley forests are reliable orchid-watching territory. Removing wild orchids from forest is prohibited under the Forests Act and the Conservation of Wild Life Act.
Threats
- Illegal wild collection for the ornamental trade
- Habitat loss from forest clearance
- Loss of host trees to logging