Aspasia principissa: A Showy Orchid Common in the Barro Colorado Island Understory

Aspasia principissa is one of the vascular epiphytes that will catch the eye of a visitor to Barro Colorado Island because this quite common orchid grows in the lower portions of tree trunks and features showy flowers during the dry season. The species is a good example to showcase that epiphytism is more about using a previously unused spatial resource than about a “quest for light.” This brief account describes key findings of research with this orchid on BCI in the fields of population biology, physiological ecology, and reproductive biology.