Orchids in Guadeloupe

Some trees in the National Park of Guadeloupe can accommodate up to several hundred individuals of the epiphytic orchid.

The wild orchids of Guadeloupe comprise a majority of species epiphytic or epilithic, and it is estimated that wild terrestrial orchids representing about one third of the workforce.

The species Jacquiniella globosa can be found on most media available in a given area. In contrast, Lepanthes Pleurothallidinae and some are more difficult to locate.

Approximately 102 species of orchids have been located in Guadeloupe.

14 species considered present in Guadeloupe, according to the literature, have still not been located.

In BasseTerre, in altitude, we can find endemic species: Epidendrum mutelianum, Octomeria ffrenchiana, Peurothallis mazei, Pseudocentrum guadalupensis Stella dussii.

Among the species found in the wild in Guadeloupe, four of them are of exotic origin: Spathoglottis plicata and Spathoglottis plicata sp. (escaped cultivation and naturalized in Guadeloupe), Oeceoclades maculata (booming in the Caribbean and probably arrived naturally), and perhaps Pelexia obliqua (unusual species distribution, common in Asia but rare in tropical America where it is listed El Salvador, Cuba and Guadeloupe).

In Guadeloupe, the importance of orchid species as bioindicators has been confirmed, some of which are characteristics of ecotones riverside (Leochilus puertoricensis), and other windy ridges above sea level (Octomeria ffrenchiana, Cyrtochilum meirax and to a lesser measure Isochilus linearis, Lepanthes sp.).

Threats to the survival of populations of wild orchid are numerous in Guadeloupe and amplified by the small size of ecosystems and their interactions because of the insularity of Guadeloupe: human pressures, natural factors (hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes land), destruction of media epiphytic species, introduction of exotic species are generally cited as factors threatening the wild orchids in Guadeloupe.

If you want to put you in touch with the orchid society of Guadeloupe, contact us at: primeahotels@orange.fr