Orchid Information - Family Orchidaceae Subfamily Epidendroideae Tribe Podochileae

Podochileae Pfitzer, Entw Nat. Anordn. 0rch. (1887) 101. Type species: Podochilus Blume.

Synonyms:

• Thelaseae Pfitzer, Entw Nat. Anordn. 0rch. (1887) 104, as 'Thelasinae'. Type genus: Thelasis Blume.

Epiphytes, lithophytes, or sometimes terrestrials. Roots wiry; with root hairs. Rhizome creeping. Stems cane-like or pseudobulbs, well spaced or tufted, leafy throughout or leaves apical on the pseudobukb only; internodes 1 to many. Leaves 1 to many, conduplicate or rarely convolute, distichous or spirally arranged, leathery, sometimes laterally flattened and fleshy; leaf sheath articulated or not at the apex. lnflorescence axillary or terminal, sometimes from the rhizome, racemose, solitary or fasciculate, unbranched or rarely branched, rarely reduced to one or two flowers, glabrous to hairy, often the hairs stellate; floral bracts sometimes showy, glabrous or with indument. Flowers usually resupinate and not showy, with or without indument. Ovary terete to triangular in cross section. Median sepal free, rarely fused to the lateral sepals, spreading or not. Lateral sepals at the base oblique; mentum chin-like. Petals free, smaller than the sepals. Lip entire, 2- or 3-lobed, often concave; with or without callus; spur abbreviated or absent,. Column fleshy, usually not winged; column foot usually prominent, or absent; anther incumbent; stigma entire; pollinia eight or rarely six, four or two, equal or unequal in size, ovoid, clavate-ovoid, clavate or narrowly clavate, with a common caudicle or with short caudicles, viscidia 1 or 2, or absent. Capsule sometimes globose.
(after Cribb & Ng 2005)

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