- Orchidantha
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Orchidantha 
Orchidantha maxillarioides Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Monocots (unranked): Commelinids Order: Zingiberales Family: Lowiaceae Genus: Orchidantha Species See text
Orchidantha is a genus of flowering plants, often given its own family, Lowiaceae. It includes the plants in the formerly recognised genera Lowia, Protamomum and Wolfia. Orchidantha remains a poorly known genus, with up to about a dozen species, found from southern China to Borneo. Orchidantha means "Orchid-flower", as one of the petals on the flowers is modified into a labellum, like the flowers of orchids.[1] One species, Orchidantha inouei of Borneo, imitates the smell of dung in order to attract small Onthophagus dung beetles as pollinators. [2]
References
- ^ "Lowiaceae". Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 9 September 2011
- ^ Sakai, Shoko; Tamiji, Inoue (1 January 1999). "A new pollination system: dung-beetle pollination discovered in Orchidantha inouei (Lowiaceae, Zingiberales) in Sarawak, Malaysia". American Journal of Botany 86 (1): 56–61. http://www.amjbot.org/content/86/1/56.full. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
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