Cheirostylis

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Fleshy jewel orchids
Cheirostylis griffithii - The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalaya pl 397 (1889) - contrast.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Cranichideae
Subtribe: Goodyerinae
Genus: Cheirostylis
Blume [1]
Type species
Cheirostylis montana
Synonyms [1]
  • ArisanorchisHayata
  • GymnochilusBlume
  • HayataAver.
  • MariarisquetaGuinea

Cheirostylis, commonly known as fleshy jewel orchids [2] or velvet orchids, [3] is a genus of about sixty species of flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae. Plants in this genus are terrestrial herbs with a caterpillar-like rhizome and a loose rosette of leaves. Small, white, hairy flowers develop as the leaves wither. They are found in tropical Africa, southern Asia, Southeast Asia, Malesia, New Guinea and Australia.

Contents

Description

Orchids in the genus Cheirostylis are terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, sympodial herbs with a creeping, caterpillar-like, above-ground rhizome anchored to the ground by fine white root hairs. The leaves are thinly textured and arranged in a loose rosette with a short petiole but are usually withered by flowering time. The flowers are resupinate and usually small, white and hairy with the dorsal sepal and lateral sepals fused for about half their length. The petals are free from each other but are narrower than the sepals. The tip of the labellum has two lobes and a narrow base forming a shallow depression containing two calli. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Taxonomy and naming

The genus Cheirostylis was first formally described in 1825 by Carl Ludwig Blume and the description was published in Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië. [1] [6] [7] [8]

The first species of Cheirostylis described by Blume was C. montana , making it the type species. [9]

Distribution

Cheirostylis orchids occur in tropical Africa through tropical Asia from Japan to New Guinea and some Pacific Islands. Seventeen species, eight of which are endemic occur in China and two species are endemic to Australia. [2] [3] [5]

List of species

The following is a list of species recognised by the Plants of the World Online as at November 2023: [10]

Related Research Articles

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Thrixspermum, commonly known as hairseeds or 白点兰属 , is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orchidaceae. Orchids in this genus are epiphytes, lithophytes or terrestrial plants with flat, leathery leaves and short-lived flowers with the sepals and petals more or less similar to each other. The labellum is rigidly fixed to the column and has three lobes. The side lobes are erect and the middle lobe is thick and fleshy. There are about 190 species distributed from tropical and subtropical Asia to the Western Pacific. Most species grow in lowland or tropical rainforests up to an altitude of 1,200 m.

<i>Calanthe</i> Genus of orchids

Calanthe, commonly known as Christmas orchids, is a genus of about 220 species of orchids in the family Orchidaceae. They are evergreen or deciduous terrestrial plants with thick roots, small oval pseudobulbs, large corrugated leaves and upright, sometimes arching flowering stems. The sepals and petals are narrow and a similar size to each other and the labellum usually has spreading lobes.

<i>Phaius</i> Genus of orchids

Phaius, commonly known as swamp orchids or in Chinese as 鶴頂蘭屬/鹤顶兰属 , is a genus of forty-five species of flowering plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. They are evergreen, terrestrial herbs which form clumps with crowded, sometimes stem-like pseudobulbs, large, pleated leaves and relatively large, often colourful flowers. Species in this genus are found in the tropical parts of Africa, Asia, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. One species is also naturalized in Hawaii, Florida, and the Caribbean.

<i>Tainia</i> Genus of orchids

Tainia, commonly known as ribbon orchids or 带唇兰属 is a genus of about thirty species of evergreen, terrestrial orchids in the distributed from India, China, Japan, Southeast Asia to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Queensland.

<i>Zeuxine</i> Genus of orchids

Zeuxine, commonly known as verdant jewel orchids, is a genus of about eighty species of orchids in the tribe Cranichideae. They are native to parts of tropical Africa, Asia, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia and some Pacific Islands. They have relatively narrow, dark green leaves and small, dull-coloured resupinate flowers with the dorsal sepal and petals overlapping to form a hood over the column. The labellum has a pouched base and its tip has two lobes.

<i>Anoectochilus</i> Genus of flowering plants

Anoectochilus, commonly known as marbled jewel orchids or filigree orchids, is a genus of about fifty species in the orchid family Orchidaceae. They are terrestrial herbs with a creeping rhizome, an upright flowering stem and dark coloured leaves with contrasting veins. The flowers are relatively large and have a large labellum, markedly different from the sepals and petals.

<i>Goodyera</i> Genus of orchids

Goodyera, commonly called rattlesnake plantain, jade orchids or ladies' tresses is a wide-ranging genus of orchids in the tribe Cranichideae. About 100 species of Goodyera have been formally described. With a center of diversity in East Asia, Goodyera is found across Europe, Madeira, North and Central America, Australia, and on islands from the west Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. They have a rosette of leaves at their base and usually many small white resupinate flowers. They are similar to orchids in the genus Spiranthes but can be distinguished from them by the shape and colour patterns of the leaves.

<i>Gastrodia</i> Genus of orchids

Gastrodia, commonly known as potato orchids or as 天麻属 , is a genus of terrestrial leafless orchids in the family Orchidaceae, about ninety of which have been described. Orchids in this genus have fleshy, upright stems and small to medium-sized resupinate flowers with narrow sepals and petals. They are native to Asia, Australia, New Zealand, central Africa, and various islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

<i>Nervilia</i> Genus of orchids

Nervilia, commonly known as shield orchids, is a genus of orchids with about 80 species widely distributed across most of sub-Saharan Africa, southern Asia, Australia, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Six species occur in Australia, with 16 in India, 10 in China and 5 in South Africa.

<i>Pinalia</i> Genus of orchids

Pinalia, commonly known as gremlin orchids, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orchidaceae. Orchids in this genus are large epiphytic or lithophytic plants with prominent pseudobulbs, each with up to three thin, flat leaves and cup-shaped, relatively short-lived flowers with scale-like brown hairs on the outside. There are about 120 species occurring from tropical to subtropical Asia to the south-west Pacific.

<i>Phreatia</i> Genus of orchids

Phreatia, commonly known as lace orchids, is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae, native to regions bordering the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Plants in this genus are epiphytes, sometimes with pseudobulbs, in which case there are usually one or two leaves. Others lack pseudobulbs but have up to twelve leaves. A large number of small white or greenish flowers are borne on a flowering stem emerging from a leaf axil or from the base of the pseudobulb when present but the flowers do not open widely. There are about 220 species, distributed from tropical and subtropical Asia to the Pacific.

<i>Arachnis</i> (plant) Genus of orchids

The genus Arachnis, abbreviated as Arach in horticultural trade, is a member of the orchid family (Orchidaceae), consisting of more than 20 species native to China, India, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands.

<i>Luisia</i> Genus of orchids

Luisia, commonly known as velvet orchids or 钗子股属 , is a genus of epiphytic or lithophytic orchids in family Orchidaceae. Plants in this genus have flattened roots, long leafy stems, narrow, thick, leathery leaves and short-lived flowers that open sporadically. There are about forty species found from tropical and subtropical Asia to the Western Pacific.

<i>Robiquetia</i> Genus of orchids

Robiquetia, commonly known as pouched orchids, is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Plants in this genus are epiphytes with long, sometimes branched, fibrous stems, leathery leaves in two ranks and large numbers of small, densely crowded flowers on a pendulous flowering stem. There are about eighty species found from tropical and subtropical Asia to the Western Pacific.

<i>Trichoglottis</i> Genus of orchid

Trichoglottis, commonly known as cherub orchids or 毛舌兰属 , is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orchidaceae. Orchids in this genus are epiphytic plants with thick roots, relatively thick, fibrous stems and many large, thick, leathery leaves arranged in two ranks. The flowers are usually small and yellowish with light brown or purple markings. The flowers have broad sepals, narrower petals and a labellum which has three lobes and is often hairy. There are about 85 species distributed from tropical and subtropical Asia to the north-western Pacific. Most species grow in rainforest.

<i>Hetaeria</i> Species of orchid

Hetaeria, commonly known as hairy jewel orchids, is a genus of about thirty species of flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae. Plants in this genus are terrestrial herbs with a succulent rhizome and a loose rosette of leaves. Small, pale, hairy non-resupinate flowers are borne on a thin, hairy flowering stem. They are found in tropical Africa and Asia to New Guinea, Australia and some Pacific Islands.

<i>Micropera</i> Genus of orchids

Micropera, commonly known as dismal orchids or 小囊兰属 is a genus of about twenty species of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Plants in this genus are large epiphytes with thick roots, long, fibrous stems, linear leaves and whitish or yellow, non-resupinate flowers. The sepals and petals are similar to each other and the labellum is shoe-shaped or sac-like and has three lobes. It is found from Tibet to tropical Asia and the western Pacific Ocean.

<i>Peristylus</i> Genus of orchids

Peristylus, sometimes commonly known as ogre orchids or bog orchids is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It consists of over 100 known species found across much of eastern and southern Asia as well as in Australia and on many islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Cheirostylis". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Jones, David L. (2006). A complete guide to native orchids of Australia including the island territories. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: New Holland. pp. 346–347. ISBN   1877069124.
  3. 1 2 3 D.L.Jones; T.Hopley; S.M.Duffy (2010). "Cheirostylis". Australian Tropical Rainforest Orchids . Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government . Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  4. "Genus Cheirostylis". Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Cheirostylis". Flora of China. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  6. "Cheirostylis". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  7. Blume, Carl Ludwig (1825). Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië. Batavia. p. 413. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  8. Jones, David L. (1997). "A taxonomic review of Cheirostylis (Orchidaceae) in Australia". Muelleria. 10: 76. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  9. "Cheirostylis montana". APNI. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  10. "Cheirostylis". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 30 November 2023.