Soto Arenas, Solano Gómez and Hágsater documented 22 orchid taxa considered extinct in the wild in Mexico and 12 additional taxa probably extinct in the country. These are best understood as national extirpations from the Mexican orchid flora: some species may still survive outside Mexico, while others may represent global losses.
This page avoids the phrase “34 globally extinct Mexican orchids.” The appropriate interpretation is “orchids disappeared from Mexico,” “orchids extinct in the wild in Mexico,” or “national extirpations from the Mexican orchid flora.”
The losses are concentrated in humid mountain forests, especially in Chiapas. The Montebello region was particularly affected after the 1997-1998 sequence of frost, drought and fire, which destroyed epiphyte-rich forest habitat.
This list defines the scale of what Orchidarc is working to prevent: the disappearance of small, specialized, often overlooked orchid lineages before they are understood scientifically, ecologically or culturally.
| Taxon | Status in Mexico | Last record / event | Montebello | Website note |
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The official NOM-059 category E is narrower than this historical conservation list. Among Orchidaceae, Laelia gouldiana is the clearest official NOM-059 example under E. The Soto Arenas et al. list is broader and includes taxa probably lost from the Mexican flora.
This page should later connect to the Mexican orchids at risk database, species pages, locality evidence, IUCN candidate assessments, and field verification notes where rediscovery is possible.