ORCHIDACEAE  

Terrestrial herbs, slender, dwarf. Leaves linear or ovate, with broad sheathing base. Inflorescences dense or elongate spikes; flowers not resupinate, scarcely opening, white with yellow lip; bracts longer than flowers. Sepals subequal, median one erect, concave; laterals spreading, free. Petals narrow, often cohering with median sepal to form hood. Lip shortly adnate to base of gynostemium, concave or subsaccate at base, with or without pair of calli inside, +/- contracted in middle, dilated at apex into entire or bilobed limb. Gynostemium: anther shortly apiculate; pollinia 2, with caudicle attached to broad, rounded viscidium; stigmas 2, lateral. Capsule small, erect, ovoid or subglobose. x= 10 (aneuploids, high polyploidy).

Lianas, creeping in bushes and trees. Stems usually terete, occasionally succulent. Leaves cauline, spaced and oblong-elliptical to broadly ovate, rarely 0. Inflorescences short racemes, rarely branched, normally axillary, with few to many large flowers, white to green. Sepals and petals free, petals often keeled on dorsal surface. Lip funnel-shaped, usually with lamellae and hairs. Gynostemium elongate; anther operculate, incumbent; stigma in cavity under rostellum. Capsule linear, often very long. x= 16 (aneuploids, polyploidy).

Terrestrial, lithophytic or occasionally low-level epiphytic herbs, with many tuberous roots. Leaves radical, in rosette at base of stem, sometimes dark-spotted; frequently with crisped or undulate margins; glabrous. Inflorescence a terminal, lax or dense, many-flowered raceme, frequently subsecund; flowers pink or lilac, usually with purple markings; bracts small. Sepals subequal, unlobed; longer than petals. Petals slightly narrower than sepals, unlobed. Lip 3- or 5-lobed, unspurred or spurred, longer than sepals and petals. Gynostemium: very short and broad; anther thecae parallel, anther canals short or absent; pollinia 2, sectile, affixed by short caudicle to small oblong viscidia; stigmatic processes 2, clavate or capitate; rostellum 3-lobed, very short. Capsule oblong, erect. x= 18 (1 report).

Slender terrestrial herbs, with ovoid root tubers and wiry, flexuose stems. Leaves spathulate or elliptic-ovate, in radical tuft, green, often with purple dots. Inflorescence a short and lax raceme; flowers pink or white; bracts ovate-lanceolate. Sepals free; median one shallowly galeate and spurred; laterals spreading or reflexed. Petals basally +/- fused with gynostemium, narrow and unequally bilobed at apex, with minute or prominent anticous lobe. Lip fiddle-shaped, unspurred; hypochile concave, mesochile wider and flat, epichile massive, linear, decurved process. Gynostemium: anther thecae short, reflexed, parallel and adjacent, anther canals insignificant; pollinia 2, sectile, attached by short caudicles to separate viscidia; stigma pad in front of gynostemium; rostellum shortly 3-lobed. Capsule ovate-oblong.

Terrestrial herbs, with ovoid or globose tubers. Leaves 2-few, basal or cauline, sometimes flat on ground. Inflorescence a dense or lax raceme, many- or few-flowered, rarely subcapitate; flowers not resupinate; sepals and petals +/- fused at base or in basal portion, to lesser extent also to lip, in various shades of red, white, orange and yellow; bracts membranous or fleshy, often reflexed. Sepals simple, subequal or laterals broader, spreading or reflexed. Petals simple, sometimes with fringed margins, similar to petals. Lip almost always galeate, apex developed as narrow, erect or reflexed 'flap', base with 2 descending spurs or sacs, rarely without. Gynostemium erect with elongate column-part; anther thecae pendent, parallel and adjacent, anther canals absent or short; pollinia 2, sectile, each with distinct caudicle, viscidia 2, sometimes connate, very rarely 1. Capsule elongate to ovoid, not twisted. x= 41 (polyploidy).