[GrowRR] Are Bromeliads Orchidaceous Plants?

[Rufino Osorio]

Hello Steve,

Plants that grow on other plants are described as "epiphytic." I am 
unaware of any dictionary or thesaurus that uses the word "orchidaceous" 
to describe epiphytic plants in general. Perhaps if you provided a 
reference(s) to such usage, it might clarify things. Nor am I aware of a 
reference in which bromeliads are described as "orchidaceous." Also, I 
am not sure why anyone would use the word "orchidaceous" to describe 
epiphytic plants when we already have the word "epiphyte" to describe 
epiphytic plants. Additionally, 30% of all orchids (that's about 1 out 
of every 3) are terrestrial, non-epiphytic plants so "orchidaceous" 
would be a poor choice to use as a word that meant "epiphytic plant." 
And even if "orchidaceous" meant "epiphytic plant," which it doesn't, it 
could not be applied to the vast number of bromeliads, including nearly 
all of the mid-sized and large bromeliads used as garden landscape 
plants, that are terrestrial plants and not epiphytes. Finally, there is 
a world-class institution in Sarasota, Florida, dedicated to the 
scientific study of epiphytic plants, the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, 
and the staff uses the word "epiphyte" to describe epiphytic 
plants--they do not use the word "orchidaceous" for this purpose.

Perhaps there is confusion because some dictionaries say that 
"orchidaceous" is an adjective with the meaning "resembling an orchid." 
However, to use the term "orchidaceous" to mean "epiphytic" when 30% of 
all orchids are terrestrial is simply an invitation to ambiguity and 
confusion. Indeed, calling bromeliads "orchidaceous" because some 
bromeliads happen to be epiphytic is about as confusing as calling a 
mouse "feline" because it happened to be particularly agile. It would be 
far less confusing to simply say that  the mouse is "very agile." 
Likewise, it would be far less confusing to simply call an epiphytic 
plant an "epiphyte" than to call it an "orchidaceous plant."

Your post was an interesting one but it does show some confusion 
regarding plant taxonomy. You state that bromeliads are in the family 
Bromeliaceae and "orchids are in the order of Orchidaceae." The latter 
is incorrect, and orchids are in the family Orchidaceae. Note that 
suffixes in plant taxonomy are, with very few exceptions, standardized 
and all ranks that end in "aceae" refer to a family. Bromeliads and 
orchids are not at all very closely related and the two families belong 
to quite different and very distinct orders. Orchids are in the order 
Asparagales and, as such, are more closely related to plants such as 
hyacinths and asparagus than they are to bromeliads, which belong to a 
completely different order, the Bromeliales.

Kind regards,
Rufino
Palm Beach County, Florida

At 09:31 AM 8/07/2006, you wrote:

>> Hello,
>>  
>> This is my first post and I have a question to the taxanomists on the 
>> list or anybody who can help!  My question is, are bromeliads 
>> orchidaceous plants? I know bromeliads are in the family of 
>> Bromeliaceae and orchids are in the order of Orchidaceae but the word 
>> "orchidaceous" describes epiphytic plants, so does that mean all 
>> epiphytic plants are orchidaceous, including bromeliads?
>>  
>> Thanks,
>>  
>> Steve
>