Aspidogyne mendoncae is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of orchid that grows in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

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Biology

Aspidogyne mendoncae grows in humus on the floor of lowland forests, in the Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian state of Espirito Santo

Espírito Santo

Espírito Santo is one of the states of southeastern Brazil, often referred to by the abbreviation "ES". Its capital is Vitória and the largest city is Vila Velha. The name of the state means literally "holy spirit" after the Holy Ghost of Christianity...

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Taxonomic history

Aspidogyne mendoncae was first described by Alexander Curt Brade

Alexander Curt Brade

Alexander Curt Brade was a German botanist who specialized in the study of the orchids and ferns of Brazil. Brade also realized an important and early series of collections of the flora of Costa Rica between 1908 and 1910 with his brother Alfred, who lived in San Jose and owned a horticultural...

 and Guido Frederico João Pabst in 1958, under the name Erythrodes mendoncae. In 1977, Leslie Andrew Garay transferred the species to a new, monotypic

Monotypic

In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...

 genus, Rhamphorhynchus, as Rhamphorhynchus mendoncae. In 2008, Paul Ormerod concluded that the genus Rhamphorhynchyus could not be maintained as separate from Aspidogyne

Aspidogyne

Aspidogyne is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae.- References :*Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.A. & Rasmussen, F. eds. . Genera Orchidacearum 1. Oxford Univ. Press....

, creating the current combination, Aspidogyne mendoncae.