Checklist of Orchidaceae from Caqueta, Colombia

A checklist of Orchidaceae from Caqueta, Colombia is presented here. We recorded 98 genera and 418 species, exceeding a previous inventory by 276 species. The checklist is conservative in the number of genera and species by including only taxa that were fully and reliably identified and that are either linked to a corresponding herbarium voucher, a living collection specimen or a photo taken in the field and published in iNaturalist by one of the authors or a collaborator. The documented species diversity in the region could dramatically increase in the next few years with additional collecting efforts in the eastern slopes of the Andes nested in Caqueta. About 9% (418/4600) of all Orchidaceae species recorded for Colombia are reported for this area, showing the important contri-bution to orchid diversity of Andean-Amazonian foothills of Caqueta.

Automated summary

This paper presents a checklist of Orchidaceae from Caqueta, Colombia, recording 98 genera and 418 species, exceeding a previous inventory by 276 species. The checklist is conservative in inclusion criteria and includes only fully and reliably identified taxa with corresponding vouchers, living collections, or field photos published in iNaturalist. Additional collecting efforts in the eastern slopes of the Andes in Caqueta could lead to a significant increase in documented species diversity in the region. This area contributes significantly to orchid diversity in the Andean-Amazonian foothills of Caqueta, accounting for about 9% (418/4600) of all Orchidaceae species recorded for Colombia.