{{short description|Genus of plants}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Butterfly orchid | image = Psychopsis papilio 46627904.jpg | image_caption = ''Psychopsis papilio'' <br>''In situ'' in Trinidad | display_parents = 3 | taxon = Psychopsis | authority = Raf. | synonyms_ref = <ref name="WCSP"/> | synonyms = *''Papiliopsis'' <small>E.Morren ex Cogn. & Marchal</small> *''Papiliopsis'' <small>E.Morren</small> | type_species = ''Psychopsis papilio'' }} thumb|''Psychopsis'' 'Kalihi' <small>''(Psychopsis krameriana × Psychopsis papilio''</small> )
'''''Psychopsis''''' is a genus of four known species of orchids native to northern South America, Central America and Trinidad.<ref name="WCSP">[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=167055 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]</ref><ref>Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.C. & Rasmussen, F.N. (2009). Epidendroideae (Part two). Genera Orchidacearum 5: 1-585. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.</ref> The genus name is abbreviated '''''Pyp.''''' in the horticultural trade.<ref>Alphabetical List of Standard Abbreviations for Natural and Hybrid Generic Names, Royal Horticultural Society, 2017. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/plant-registration-forms/orchid-name-abbreviations-list.pdf</ref>
==Description== ''Psychopsis'' are epiphytic orchids with laterally crushed cylindrical pseudobulbs from which two fleshy coriaceous leaves appear apically, in their center two floral wands emerge with large golden yellow flowers with purple spots on bands in sepals and on the lip whose edges are forming folds.
''Psychopsis'' very often grows on the trunks and branches of trees. The flowers look like large butterflies with brightly colored bodies (the lip, a modified petal), very long antennae-like petals, and outspread wing-like dappled yellow and brown sepals.
The butterfly orchid is rumored to have started the European "Orchidmania" of the 19th century.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}
Very little is known about pollination in ''Psychopsis''. Despite that the flowers are commonly likened to butterflies, they are probably pollinated by some type of bee, not butterflies.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chase |first=Mark W. |date=2005 |title=520. PSYCHOPSIS LIMMINGHEI: Orchidaceae |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45066088 |journal=Curtis's Botanical Magazine |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=53–55 |doi=10.1111/j.1355-4905.2005.00463.x |jstor=45066088 |issn=1355-4905|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==Taxonomy== ''Psychopsis'' was formerly included in the massively paraphyletic "wastebin genus" ''Oncidium'' within the section ''Glanduligera'', named after the genus's distinctive oil-secreting glands. Orchids in this genus are commonly called '''butterfly orchids''', but some species of other orchid genera are also called thus. The species ''Psychopsiella limminghei'' was once included in ''Psychopsis'' but is now accepted as its own monotypic genus.<ref name="WCSP2">{{cite web |url=http://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=59120 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302071308/https://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=59120 |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 2, 2020 |title=''Psychopsiella limminghei'' |work=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew }}</ref>
===Species=== Species currently accepted as of October 2020:<ref name="WCSP"/> {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Name !! Distribution !! Elevation (m) |- |120px || ''Psychopsis krameriana'' <small>(Rchb.f.) H.G.Jones</small> ||Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Suriname || 50 - 1300 |- |120px || ''Psychopsis papilio'' <small>(Lindl.) H.G.Jones</small>|| Panama, Trinidad, Colombia, Venezuela, Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil || 800 - 1200 |- | 120px || ''Psychopsis sanderae'' <small>(Rolfe) Lückel & Braem</small>|| Peru, Brazil || 1220 |- |120px || ''Psychopsis versteegiana'' <small>(Pulle) Lückel & Braem</small>||Suriname, Ecuador ||200 - 1200 |- |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Commons-inline|Psychopsis (Orchidaceae)|''Psychopsis''}} * {{Wikispecies-inline|Psychopsis (Orchidaceae)|''Psychopsis''}}
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Category:Oncidiinae genera Category:Oncidiinae Category:Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque
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