Orchidaceae
Bletia

Bletia florida (Salisb.) R.Br.

First published in W.T.Aiton, Hortus Kew. 5: 206 (1813)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Cayman Islands, Cuba, Jamaica. It is a tuberous geophyte and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Descriptions

George R. Proctor (2012). Flora of the Cayman Isands (Second Edition). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Morphology General Habit
Terrestrial, erect herbs, up to 93 cm tall
Vegetative Multiplication Corms
Corms erect, globose, sometimes flattened, 1.2–3.7 cm diam, covered by 2–3 basal, scarious sheathing bracts
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 3–5, present or absent during flowering, lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 40–82 cm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences scapose racemes or panicles 80–93 cm long; floral bracts ochraceous, acuminate, 3–12 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers mostly rose or purple colored; dorsal sepal reflexed, obovate-elliptic, 2.2–2.9 cm long, lateral sepals extended, ovate-elliptic or falcate, 2–2.5 cm long; petals ovate-elliptic, margin undulate, curved and partially enclosing the column, 2.1–2.7 cm long; lip trilobed, 1.7–2.4 cm long, obovate in outline, lateral lobes elliptic, partially covering the column, 0.8–1.4 cm long, midlobe horizontal to curved downwards, elliptic, 0.8–1.2 cm long, with an isthmus of 3.5–6 mm, margin crispate, disc with 5–7 yellow lamellae, extending from the base to the middle of the midlobe, elevated. Column arched, winged, 1.2–1.8 cm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsules oblong, ascending, 2.8–3.5 cm long, 6.4–8.5 mm wide
Recognition
Presumed to be the identity of a cultivated species in George Town, Grand Cayman. It has deep purple flowers on branched inflorescences up to nearly 1 m tall, and was probably introduced from Jamaica. The terrestrial habit, ovoid pseudobulbs, and broad, somewhat grass-like leaves render identification easy. No herbarium material has been seen.
Distribution
Grand Cayman. Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti and Dominican Republic.
[Cayman]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: threatened. Confidence: low confidence
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of the Cayman Islands

    • Flora of the Cayman Islands
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0