Delicate violet orchid

Description

Ionopsis utricularioides, the delicate violet orchid, is an epiphytic orchid native to the warmer parts of the Americas. It is reported from Florida, Mexico (from Nayarit to Quntana Roo), Central America (all 7 countries), much of the West Indies including the Cayman Islands, South America as far south as Paraguay, and the Galápagos. Inula is a large genus of about 90 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Europe, Asia and Africa. They may be annuals, herbaceous perennials or subshrubs that vary greatly in size, from small species a few centimeters tall to enormous perennials over 3 m (10 ft) tall. They carry yellow daisy-like composite flowerheads often with narrow ray-florets. Some common characteristics include pappus with bristles, flat capitulum, and lack of chaff. Several species are popular flowers for the garden, with cultivation going back to antiquity. The smaller species are used in rock gardens and the more common larger ones, which tend to have very coarse foliage, in borders. The genus name Inula, of uncertain origin, was already used by the Romans. The Latin phrase inula campana (field inula) gave rise to the English elecampane whose scientific name is Inula helenium. The plant's specific name, helenium, derives from Helen of Troy; elecampane is said to have sprung up from where her tears fell. Inula species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including case-bearers of the genus Coleophora, such as C. conyzae (recorded on I. conyzae), C. follicularis, C. inulae, and C. troglodytella.