Sophronitis, abbreviated Soph in horticultural trade, is a former genus of small, epiphytic or lithophytic orchids, growing in the damp montane forest of eastern Brazil, Paraguay and NE Argentina. In January 2008, the International Orchid Committee voted to reduce Sophronitis to synonymy under Cattleya. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has already moved a hybrid of the rupicolous Laelia that had been renamed Sophronitis esalqueana into the genus Cattleya. Prior to this change, 65 species were recognized.
Sophronitis specimens were widely known for their red flowers, particularly Sophronitis coccinea. Between the time that the Brazilian Laelias were moved to Sophronitis, and the subsequent reduction of Sophronitis to synonymy under Cattleya, the genus was also known for large flowered species such as Sophronitis purpurata.
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Description
They have short, ovoid, often densely clustered pseudobulbs along the rhizome, in which grows a single, or rarely two, apical, erect, fleshy, gray-green leaves.
The leaf gives rise to a terminal inflorescence with one to eight flowers. Sometimes this inflorescence is subtended by a spathaceous bract, sometimes erroneously called spathe (spathe is a typical form in some other families such as Araceae and Arecaceae). The flowers have similarly shaped sepals and petals, and can be yellow, pink, lavender, magenta, orange and red.
The trilobed lip has lateral lobes that partially encircle the column. The smaller midlobe has a yellow disc and the spur is adnate to the ovary. The lip often presents some lamellate calli.
Some species are yellow, and almost all species have some shades of orange due to natural variation within the species.
They are used extensively in hybridization to influence the small size and the dark red color of the progeny, such as in the hybrid x Sophrolaeliocattleya (xSlc.) Sophronitis species are quite small, a characteristic that may be conferred to progeny such that they are more compact.
This new classification was created by Van den Berg and M.W. Chase in 2000. In addition to the traditional small, red species, it included all Laelia species from Brazil, based on DNA evidence. The Mexican species still are Laelia.
65.1.Sophronitis wittigiana f. candida Roeth & O.Gruss (2005)
66.Sophronitis xanthina (Lindl.) Van den Berg & M.W.Chase: Yellow Sophronitis (Brazil - Bahia to Espírito Santo).
Natural hybrids
Sophronitis × carassana (S. lucasiana × S. mantiqueira) (Brazil)
Sophronitis × cipoensis (S. crispata × S. ghillanyi) (Brazil - Minas Gerais).
Sophronitis × espirito-santensis (S. pumila × S. xanthina) (SE. Brazil)
Sophronitis x feldmanniana (F.E.L.Miranda & K.G.Lacerda) Van den Berg & M.W.Chase 2005
Sophronitis × gerhard-santosii (S. harpophylla × S. kautskyana) (SE. Brazil).
Sophronitis × lilacina (S. crispa × S. perrinii) (SE. Brazil).
Sophronitis × mucugense (S. bahiensis × S. pfisteri) (Brazil - Bahia).
Sophronitis x raganii (F.E.L.Miranda & K.G.Lacerda) Van den Berg & M.W.Chase 2005
Sophronitis × wyattiana (S. crispa × S. lobata) (SE. Brazil)
Sophronitis × zaslawskii (S. harpophylla × S. praestans) (SE. Brazil)
Doubtful Species
Sophronitis pterocarpa Lindl. Wing Fruited Sophronitis (Brazil to Paraguay).
The type of S.pterocarpa is from the city of Rio de Janeiro, where only S. cernua occurs. The belief that this species corresponds to the western portion of the range into Paraguay does not match herbarium information.
Sophronitis tereticaulis (Hoehne) Van den Berg & M.W.Chase: Twisted-stem Sophronitis (Brazil - Minas Gerais).
This taxon is a variation of S. mirandae which occurs only within some populations, with no biological grounds for species recognition.