Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae, a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Earth except glaciers. The world's richest diversity of orchid genera and species is found in the tropics.
Rafflesia, or stinking corpse lily, is a genus of parasitic flowering plants in the family Rafflesiaceae. The species have enormous flowers, the buds rising from the ground or directly from the lower stems of their host plants; one species has the largest flower in the world. Plants of the World Online lists up to 41 species from this genus; all of them are found throughout Southeast Asia.
Eulophia, commonly known as corduroy orchids, is a genus of about two hundred species of flowering plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Most Eulophia orchids are terrestrial but some are deciduous while others are evergreen. They either have an underground rhizome or pseudobulbs on the surface and those species with leaves have them on the end of a fleshy stem. The flowers are arranged on a thin flowering spike, the flowers having sepals which are larger than the petals. The genus is widely distributed but most species are found in Africa and Asia, usually growing in shady places with grass or shrubs in forests.
Grammatophyllum, sometimes abbreviated in horticultural trade as Gram, is a genus of 13 currently known orchid species. The name is derived from the Greek words 'gramma' and 'phyllon' (leaf), referring to the parallel leaf veins or the markings of the perianth. This epiphytic genus occurs in dense rainforest from Indo-China, to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, New Guinea, and the Southwest Pacific islands.
Ansellia is considered a monotypic genus of orchid, with only one species, Ansellia africana, commonly known as African ansellia or leopard orchid, however, it may in fact be a complex group of species which share common floral structure and growth habit.
Rafflesia arnoldii, the corpse flower, or giant padma, Its local name is Petimum Sikinlili. It is a species of flowering plant in the parasitic genus Rafflesia within the family Rafflesiaceae. It is noted for producing the largest individual flower on Earth. It has a strong and unpleasant odor of decaying flesh. It is native to the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo. Although there are some plants with larger flowering organs like the titan arum and talipot palm, those are technically clusters of many flowers.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya are about 5.5 km to the west of the city of Kandy in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. In 2016, the garden was visited by 1.2 million locals and 400,000 foreign visitors. It is near the Mahaweli River. It is renowned for its collection of orchids. The garden includes more than 4000 species of plants, including orchids, spices, medicinal plants and palm trees. Attached to it is the "National Herbarium of Sri Lanka". The total area of the botanical garden is 147 acres (0.59 km2), at 460 meters above sea level, and with a 200-day annual rainfall. It is managed by the Department of national botanic gardens.
Dendrobium speciosum, commonly known as the rock orchid or cane orchid, is a species of highly variable Australian orchid. Its varieties can be found in a range of habitats as epiphytes or lithophytes. It has a continuous distribution along the east coast of Australia and in distinct populations along the Tropic of Capricorn. As a lithophyte, it forms gigantic spreading colonies on rocks and cliff faces, often exposed to full sun, with its roots forming dense, matted beds across the rock that anchor the plant. It can be found at altitudes from sea level to 900 metres (3,000 ft).
Dipodium, commonly known as hyacinth orchids, is a genus of about forty species of orchids native to tropical, subtropical and temperate regions of south-east Asia, New Guinea, the Pacific Islands and Australia. It includes both terrestrial and climbing species, some with leaves and some leafless, but all with large, often colourful flowers on tall flowering stems. It is the only genus of its alliance, Dipodium.
Papilionanthe Miss Joaquim, also known as the Singapore orchid, the Princess Aloha orchid, and commonly known by its original name Vanda Miss Joaquim, is a hybrid orchid that is the national flower of Singapore. For its resilience and year-round blooming quality, it was chosen on 15 April 1981 to represent Singapore's uniqueness and hybrid culture. This orchid is the first registered plant hybrid from Singapore.
Bromheadia finlaysoniana, commonly known as the pale reed orchid and as Bromheadia pulchra in Australia, is a plant in the orchid family and is native to areas from Indochina to northern Australia. It is a terrestrial orchid with a tough upright, stem and stiffly spreading, elliptic to egg-shaped leaves. There is a long flowering stem with a short zig-zag section near the end where single flowers open in succession. The flowers are white with a yellow labellum.
The North-West University Botanical Garden on the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University (NWU) is the only botanical garden in the North West Province of South Africa. The Garden spans just under three hectares and is open to the public.
Tiger orchid is a common name for several orchids and may refer to:
Eulophia ecristata, synonym Orthochilus ecristatus, or giant orchid, is a terrestrial species of orchid native to Cuba and to the southeastern United States. In 2014, it was proposed that the species should be transferred to the genus Orthochilus, but as of December 2023 this was not accepted by Plants of the World Online. This is one of several species known as a "giant orchid".
Charles Wesley Powell was an American hobbyist turned horticulturist specializing in the study of orchids (Orchidaceae). He is credited with providing scientists the first large-scale collection of orchid specimens found in Panama. In the early 1900s, he became internationally famous for his new discoveries and valuable contributions to orchidology by gathering, rediscovering, cultivating, preserving, documenting, and submitting-for-study a diverse assortment of hundreds of distinct specimens: yielding many new to science species.
Cyrtopodium longibulbosum, the cana-cana, of the Ecuadorian Amazon and adjacent Peru and possibly Colombia is the largest Orchid species in the Western Hemisphere with large clusters of pseudobulbs each up to 11 ft 6 in in length by about two inches (5.1 cm) in width, yet it remained unknown to science until 1993.
Eulophia stenopetala is a species of orchid endemic to Bhutan. The only material on this species from Bhutan is the holotype specimen collected by William Griffith in Bhutan in 1838 and resides at the Kew Herbarium with catalogue number K000852991. Another specimen without any information on its location is also available at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center with catalogue number U.1466607. The plant is currently considered extinct as numerous attempts to find it in the type locality failed.
Himantoglossum robertianum is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family (Orchidaceae) native to the Mediterranean Basin.
