# Resupination

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Botanical term

**Resupination** is derived from the [Latin](/source/Latin) word *resupinus*, meaning "bent back with the face upward" or "on the back".[1] "[Resupination](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Resupination)" is the [noun](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/noun) form of the [adjective](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/adjective) "resupine" which means "being upside-down, supine or facing upward".[2]

The word "resupinate" is generally only used in a [botanical](/source/Botany) context – in everyday language, "supine" has a similar meaning.[3][4] In botany, resupination refers to the "twisting" of flowers or leaves through about 180° as they open. Resupinate leaves have the [petiole](/source/Petiole_(botany)) or "stalk" twisted - resupinate flowers twist as they open.[5]

## Botanical examples

### Alstroemeriaceae

Plants in the [genus](/source/Genus) *[Alstroemeria](/source/Alstroemeria)* have more or less resupinate leaves.[6]

### Orchidaceae

The flower of a typical plant in the orchid [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) [Orchidaceae](/source/Orchidaceae) has three [sepals](/source/Sepal) and three [petals](/source/Petal). One petal, called the [labellum](/source/Labellum_(botany)), "lip" or "tongue", is typically quite different from the other two. It usually functions to attract an insect pollinator. As an orchid flower bud develops, the attachment of the lip to the axis of the flower is above that of the other two petals. In many orchid [genera](/source/Genus), as the flower opens, it twists so that the attachment of the "lip" is below that of the other two petals, the three sepals and the sexual parts of the flower known as the [column](/source/Column_(botany)). Orchid flowers that undergo this twist are called "resupinate" – those that do not are "non-resupinate".[7][8][9][10]

Although [Charles Darwin](/source/Charles_Darwin) did not use the term "resupination", he suggested that having the labellum on the lower part of the flower aids [pollination](/source/Pollination) by providing a landing place for visiting insects. However, the [South American](/source/South_America) bee *[Euglossa cordata](/source/Euglossa_cordata)* pollinates both resupinate and non-resupinate orchid flowers. It has also been suggested that resupination exposes the labellum to sunlight, emphasizing patterns and nectar guides and increases the temperature and thus the vaporisation of floral scents.[11]

Three Australian genera with non-resupinate flowers are *[Prasophyllum](/source/Prasophyllum)*, *[Cryptostylis](/source/Cryptostylis)* and *[Caleana](/source/Caleana)*.[9]

		- Resupinate flower of *[Diuris aequalis](/source/Diuris_aequalis)*

		- Non-resupinate flowers of *[Prasophyllum elatum](/source/Prasophyllum_elatum)*

		- Resupinate flowers of *[Cattleya aclandiae](/source/Cattleya_aclandiae)*

		- Non-resupinate flowers of *[Calopogon tuberosus](/source/Calopogon_tuberosus)*

		- More or less resupinate leaves of *[Alstroemeria](/source/Alstroemeria)*

		- Resupinate flower of *Dicliptera cernua*; note coralla tube twisted 180 degrees

		- Resupinate flower of *Hypoestes aristata*; note coralla tube twisted 180 degrees

## Mycology

In [fungi](/source/Fungi), the term "resupinate" describes a [fruiting body](/source/Fruiting_body) consisting of a fertile surface [adnate](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/adnate) to the [substrate](/source/Substrate_(biology)).[12] Certain genera such as *[Peniophora](/source/Peniophora)*[13] are notable for many of their species being resupinate.

		- *[Peniophora quercina](/source/Peniophora_quercina)*

		- *[Hyphodontia sambuci](/source/Hyphodontia_sambuci)*

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-RWB_1-0)** [Brown, Roland Wilbur](/source/Roland_W._Brown) (1956). *The Composition of Scientific Words*. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 478.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** *Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, College Edition* 1964, The World Publishing Company, Cleveland and New York

1. **[^](#cite_ref-MW_3-0)** ["supine"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/supine). Merriam-Webster dictionary. Retrieved 27 April 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-AOD_4-0)** Moore, Bruce, ed. (2002). *The Australian Oxford Dictionary* (1999 ed.). South Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press. p. 1348. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0195507932](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0195507932).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Hill_5-0)** Hill, Arthur W. (1939). ["Resupination Studies of Flowers and Leaves"](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Foxfordjournals.aob.a085096). *Annals of Botany*. **3** (4): 871–887. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a085096](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Foxfordjournals.aob.a085096).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-burwur_6-0)** ["Resupination"](http://www.burwur.net/sinns/3resupe.htm). Sinningia and Friends. Retrieved 28 April 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Ames_7-0)** Ames, Oakes (1938). ["Resupination as a diagnostic character in the Orchidaceae with special reference to *Malaxis monophyllos*"](https://doi.org/10.5962%2Fp.295120). *Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University*. **6** (8): 145–183. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.5962/p.295120](https://doi.org/10.5962%2Fp.295120). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [41762701](https://www.jstor.org/stable/41762701).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-NZNOG_8-0)** St George, Ian. ["Resupination"](https://www.nativeorchids.co.nz/Journals/102/page4.htm). New Zealand Native Orchid Group. Retrieved 27 April 2018.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Milligan_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Milligan_9-1) Milligan, Brian. ["Resupination"](http://www.oscov.asn.au/articles2/respun.htm). Orchid Societies Council of Victoria Inc. Retrieved 27 April 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-CANBR_10-0)** ["Flower resupination"](http://www.canbr.gov.au/cpbr/cd-keys/RFKOrchids/key/rfkorchids/Media/Html/characters/Flower_resupination.htm). Australian Tropical Rainforest Orchids. Retrieved 27 April 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Arditti_11-0)** Arditti, Joseph (2003). ["Resupination"](https://doi.org/10.15517%2Flank.v3i2.23025). *Lankesteriana*. **3** (2): 95–96. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.15517/lank.v3i2.23025](https://doi.org/10.15517%2Flank.v3i2.23025).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-mushroom_12-0)** ["cap"](http://www.mushroomthejournal.com/greatlakesdata/Terms/resup248.html#resup248). Mushroom, the Journal of Wild Mushrooming. Retrieved 27 April 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** C. Michael Hogan. 2008. [*Witch's Butter: Tremella mesenterica*, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg](http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=50127) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120921064833/http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=50127) 21 September 2012 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Resupination](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resupination) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resupination?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.