Meliorchis

Meliorchis caribea is an extinct, early to middle Miocene orchid known only from a packet of pollen attached to the wing of a stingless bee, Proplebeia dominicana, trapped in Dominican amber.

It was the first fossil orchid ever described, and allowed for a revised estimate of the time of origin of the Orchidaceae to the Mesozoic.

[1] Morphology of the pollinium suggests that M. caribea is closely related to the modern genus Ligeophila.

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