The Genus Houlletia

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The genus Houlletia was established by Brogniart, who published Houlletia brocklehurstiana in 1841 (19th C. lithograph at left). The genus is named in honor of orchid collector and grower M. Houllet.

These are large-growing epiphytic orchids with only a few species known from Mexico (or possibly Guatemala through Central America to Bolivia. They are found growing epiphytically and terrestrially on embankments in cool, humid, wet areas, 1,000-2,200 m elevation.

Rand (1876), wrote "These plants should be grown in well-drained pots, in peat, and need plenty of moisture and frequent watering when in full growth. During the resting season they should be kept in the cold house, nearly dry. The genus seems to be neglected by Orchid growers, but for no good reason. All the species are of easy culture, bloom freely, and are very handsome."

Gerlach (1999) places the genus Houlletia within the "Acineta-Verwandtschaftsgruppe," allied with Acineta, Lueddemannia, and Vasqueziella within the larger Stanhopinae Alliance.

Whitten, Williams, and Chase distinguish the Houlletia clade among the Stanhopinae, comprising Horichia, Houlletia, Paphinia, Schlimmia, and Trevoria. They write:
"As presently defined, Houlletia consists of two morphologically distinct groups. The group containing H. brockelhurstiana (the type species), H. tigrina, H. odoratissima Linden ex Lindl., and H. juruenensis Hoehne have open, resupinate flowers that are heavily spotted in red-brown. The epichile is triangular and the hypochile bears a pair of curved, acute projections; the lip shares many features of the lip of Paphinia. The viscidium is narrow, approximately the same width of the long stipe, and the pollinaria are deposited on the bee's scutellum.
In contrast, the group containing H. sanderi, H. wallisii, H. clarae Schltr., and H. lowiana Rchb.f. has globose, nonresupinate flowers that are white to yellow, mostly unspotted, and borne on an erect inflorescence. The epichile is rectangular or ovate (not triangular), and the lateral projections on the hypochile are broad instead of acute. The pollinarium has a broad, concave viscidium."

The plants have ovoid, ridged pseudobulbs, each bearing 2-4 large, pleated leaves. The inflorescences begin from the base of the pseudobulbs and are always pendant, with fleshy, showy flowers hanging downward ("nodding") on a simple raceme. The dorsal sepal is free and the lateral sepals form a short mentum with the column foot. The petals are similar to the dorsal sepal but smaller. The lip is deeply 3-lobed, the lateral lobes are upcurved and the mid-lobe is spreading. The anther is imperfectly two-celled and there are two waxy pollinia, cleft, with viscidium and a prominent stipe. Dressler (1993a) has a line-drawing of the Lacaena pollinarium.

Note that in 1999, E. Luckel & H. Fessel published the new genus Jennyella "to accommodate the globose, white flowered taxa." They segregate four species previously attributed to Houlletia into the new genus Jennyella: H. clarae Schlechter 1924; H. kalbreyeriana Kraenzlin 1920; H. lowiana (Rchb. f.); and H. sanderi Rolfe 1910.

The species:

Houlletia brocklehurstiana Brogniart 1841. [Brazil]
Rand (1876), writes "Perianth richly checkered with brown; lip yellow, marked with purple; very fragrant." [Brazil]

Houlletia brocklehurstiana 'Imperial Topaz' AM/SAOC awarded in March 1997 (ratified October 1999 and chosen as plant of the year).
Awarded to Christo and Aletta Page, Glenstantia, RSA.
Inflorescense was 36.5 cm long, with seven large, fleshy flowers. Horizontal natural spread 8 cm. Flowers are white, creamy brown, and red brown, and the base color of the sepals and petals appears rich topaz. Photo.

Houlletia chrysantha
Rand (1876), writes "A beautiful species, with golden-yellow flowers." [Brazil]

Houlletia clava

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Houlletia conspersa

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Houlletia juruensis Hoehne

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Houlletia lowiana Linden ex Lindl. & Paxton 1874 in: Gardener's Chronicle & Agricultural Gazette 2: 484. [Perú and Bolivia]

Houlletia odoratissima Linden ex Lindley & Paxton 1852-1853 [Panama - Bolivia]
Rand (1876), writes "A fine species, with orange-brown flowers and white lip." [New Granada]

Houlletia odoratissima antioquiensis
Rand (1876), writes "A variety with blood-red sepals and petals; lip long, white, tinged with yellow."

Houlletia roraimensis Rolfe

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Houlletia stapeliaeflora
Rand (1876), writes "Differs but little from Houlletia Brocklehurstiana, of which it is probably a variety."

Houlletia tigrina (syn. landsbergii) [Guatemala - western Ecuador] The Curtis lithograph at right depicts a plant from Costa Rica.
Rand (1876), writes "Flowers yellow and brown; lip white, dotted with brown, and barred with light purple." [Colombia]

Houlletia unguiculata

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Houlletia vittata
Rand (1876), writes "Perianth yellow, striped with brown; lip yellow, striped with orange." [Brazil]

Houlletia wallisii Linden & Reichenbach f. 1869 [eastern slopes of Andes in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru]

Oakes Ames & D.S. Correll (1985 reprint) Orchids of Guatemala and Belize. New York: Dover Publications Inc., 779 pp. [Lacaena bicolor, pp. 522-524, Fig. 147: line-drawing.]

___ Brogniart (1841) "Houlletia brocklehurstiana," in: Annales des Sciences Naturelles; Botanique, sér. 2, 15: 37.

Margaret A. Dix and Michael W. Dix (2000) Orchids of Guatemala: A Revised Annotated Checklist. 61p. [p.25: Lacaena bicolor

Robert L. Dressler (1993a) Phylogeny and Classification of the Orchid Family. Portland: Dioscorides Press, 314pp. [p. 175: illustration of Lacaena pollinaria]

Robert L. Dressler (1993b) Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 304 pp, 240 illustrations. [p. 149: Lacaena bicolor; L. spectabilis

Guenther Gerlach (2001) "Die Subtribus Stanhopeinae - 3. Horichia bis Lacaena," in: Journal für den Orchideenfreund 8(2): 105-118.

Guenther Gerlach (1999) "80. Subtribus: Stanhopeinae und 81. Subtribus: Coeliopsidinae (Teil 1)," in: Schlechter, Die Orchideen, Band I, Teil C, Lieferung 37/38, 128 p. with 142 B&W illustrations, in German [866. Lacaena, pp. 2429-2431].

Fritz Hamer (22 December 1988) "Orchids of Central America, An Illustrated Field Guide (A-L)," in: Selbyana 10: 1-422. [Line-drawings -- p. 358: L. bicolor and p. 359: L. spectabilis]

C.H. Lankester (June 1918 and June 1968 reprint) Letter: Orchids of Costa Rica, in: Orchid Review. [Lacaena spectabilis].

Charles Lemaire and Ambroise Verschaffelt (1866-69) "Houlletia tigrina," in: L'Illustration Horticole: Des Serres et des Jardins.

John Lindley (1843) "Lacaena bicolor," in: Botanical Register 29: Misc. 68.

John Lindley (1844) "Lacaena bicolor," in: Edwards' Botanical Register 30: t. 50.

E. Luckel & H. Fessel (1999) "Jennyella, a new genus in the subtribe Stanhopeinae, with notes on the genus Houlletia," in: Caesiana 13: 1-8. [The authors move four Houlletia species into the genus Jennyella: H. clarae (Schltr.); H. kalbreyeriana (Kraenzlin); H. lowiana (Rchb. f.); and H. sanderi (Rolfe)].

Edward Sprague Rand (1876) Orchid Culture. New York: The Rural Publishing. [Orchids. A Description of the Species and Varieties Grown at Glen Ridge... A Complete Manual of Orchid Culture]. Link to this book at the Digital Orchid Library, http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/orchids. Houlletia on pp. 291-292: Houlletia Brocklehurstiana, chrysantha, odoratissima, odoratissima antioquiensis, stapeliaeflora, tigrina, vittata.

Gustav Reichenbach (1954) "Lacaena spectabilis," in: Bonplandia, ii. 92.

W. Mark Whitten, Norris H. Williams, and Mark W. Chase (2000) "Subtribal and generic relationships of Maxillarieae (Orchidaceae) with emphasis on Stanhopeinae: combined molecular evidence," in: American Journal of Botany 87: 1842-1856. Available online.

L.O. Williams (1964) "Lacaena nicaraguensis," in: Fieldiana Botany, 31: 41 1964.

Online References:

Digital Orchid Library, http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/orchids. Houlletia on pp. 291-292: Houlletia Brocklehurstiana, chrysantha, odoratissima, odoratissima antioquiensis, stapeliaeflora, tigrina, vittata.

International Plant Names Index [IPNI], www.ipni.org

Christo Page (January 2001) "Houlletia" web essay at http://www.ont.co.za/houlletia.htm

Photo of flowering plant of Houlletia tigrina on a Japanese website: http://cospa.main.jp/orchids/Houlletia%20tigrina.JPG

Flora of Panama [MOBOT] - Lacaena spectabilis, Chiriqui Province

Wolfgand Renner's "Orchid Collection", with a photo of L. bicolor.