The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Trichocentrum
Also called Mule Ear Orchids, Rat Tail Oncidiums, Rat Tail Orchids
Trichocentrum, often abbreviated Trctm in horticulture, is a genus in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Dancinglady orchid is a common name for plants in this genus. It was described by Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher and Eduard Friedrich Poeppig in 1836. This genus alone makes up the monogeneric Trichocentrum alliance, a quite distinct lineage of the subtribe Oncidiinae.
In 2024, Trichocentrum was expanded to include the genera Grandiphyllum and Saundersia, with the latter two synonymized.
Trichocentrum species are highly appreciated by orchid growers; some consider them to be among the most beautiful orchids on earth. Culture of members of this genus is highly variable, ranging from the drought-tolerant and easy-to-grow T. tigrinum to smaller and more delicate species.
In cultivation they are subject to rot unless provided with conditions similar to those they experience in the wild. Extensive research into the ecological profiles of individual species may be required to achieve success cultivating them. Many species from Central America apparently endure a prolonged drought for at least part of the year, and have developed succulent leaves to deal with these conditions. Plants may shrivel quite severely without long-lasting injury.
The Central and South American species Trichocentrum cebolleta (known formerly as Oncidium cebolleta) has been found to contain a variety of phenanthrenoids. This species is of considerable ethnobotanical interest as one of only a handful of orchids reported to be used as an entheogens. T. cebolleta is used as a substitute for hikuli a.k.a. peyote (the hallucinogenic cactus Lophophora williamsii) by the Tarahumara of Northern Mexico - a tribe noted for the large number of hallucinogenic plants which it uses in various shamanic and running-related practices. The combination of phenanthrenoid content and employment as entheogens in shamanic practices is to be found also in the Asiatic orchids Vanda tessellata and Dendrobium macraei (- known formerly as Ephemerantha macraei and Flickingeria macraei - see page Flickingeria). The orchidaceous genera Trichocentrum, Vanda and Dendrobium are all members of the subfamily Epidendroideae and are also placed currently in the subgroup/clade of Higher Epidendroids within the subfamily.
Trichocentrum andreanum · Trichocentrum bicallosum · Coot Bay Dancing Lady Orchid · Trichocentrum cavendishianum · Trichocentrum cosymbephorum · Mule Ear Orchid · Trichocentrum lacerum · Mule Ear Orchid · Pale Mule Ear Orchid · Trichocentrum microchilum · Mule Ear Orchid · Trichocentrum silverarum
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Trichocentrum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
