Dinema is a genusoforchids. It is represented by a single currently accepted species, Dinema polybulbon, native to Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.[2]
| Dinema | |
|---|---|
| |
| Dinema polybulbon | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Epidendroideae |
| Tribe: | Epidendreae |
| Subtribe: | Laeliinae |
| Genus: | Dinema Lindl. |
| Species: |
D. polybulbon
|
| Binomial name | |
| Dinema polybulbon (Sw.) Lindl. | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
They are epiphytes or lithophytes; with pseudobulbs 10 mm long and 6 mm wide, spaced 1–1.5 cm apart on the creeping rhizome, slightly compressed, yellowish-green, apically bi-foliate. The leaves are 15 mm long and 8 mm wide, obtuse, emarginate, shiny green. The inflorescence is uniflora or rarely with 2 flowers, terminal, the flowers 15 mm in diameter, the sepals and the petals are yellowish-brown, the lip is white to yellowish-white with the yellow nail, the column is white with purple spots; the sepals 9 mm long and 2 mm wide, shortly acuminate; petals 9 mm long and 1.5 mm wide; the simple lip, 9 mm long and 6 mm wide, unguiculate, adnate to the base of the spine, with the disc dilated and with undulated edges, thickened nail 2 mm wide; the column is 5 mm long, with 2 conspicuous extensions at the apex, the anther is terminal, pollinia 4; ovary 15 mm long, pedicellate. The fruits are ellipsoid capsules[3]
It is found in Mexico, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Cuba and Jamaica. Uncommon species in habitat, found in humid mixed forests, at an altitude of 1000–1400 meters; it blooms in November, and bears fruit in August.
This species can be recognized by the small size, the relatively large solitary flowers, the simple white to yellowish-white lip, and the cornicle-shaped extensions of the column. It is a monotypic genus.
Dinema polybulbon was described by (Sw.) Lindl. and published in The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants 111. 1831
Media related to Dinema polybulbon at Wikimedia Commons