Family Description
Plants perennial, terrestrial, epiphytic or lithophytic, sometimes mycotrophic; growth monopodial or sympodial; roots adventitious, often aerial, sometimes assimilatory. Stems usually leafy, often with one or more swollen internodes forming pseudobulbs. Leaves usually entire, alternate or opposite, often distichous, plicate or convolute; membranous to coriaceous, often terete or reduced to scale-like bracts, usually sheathed. Inflorescences erect or pendent; spicate, racemose or paniculate, 1- to many-flowered; basal, lateral or terminal. Flowers small to large; zygomorphic; sessile or variously pedicellate; resupinate or non-resupinate. Sepals three, free or connate; dorsal sepal often dissimilar to lateral sepals; lateral sepal sometimes adnate to the column to form a saccate, conical or spur-like mentum. Petals three (medial petal distinguished from the others as the lip), usually free. Lip entire or variously lobed, often with ornamented calluses, with or without a basal spur or nectary. Column short or long, with or without a basal foot, winged or lacking wings; fertile anther one (rarely two or three), terminal or incumbent, cap-like or dehiscing; pollen often agglutinated into discrete masses called pollinia; pollinia mealy, waxy or horny, soft or hard, sectile or not, 2,4,6 or 8, sessile or attached by caudicles or stipes to one or two viscidia forming a pollinarium; stigma 3-lobed, midlobe often modified to form a rostellum. Ovary inferior, unilocular with parietal placentation or rarely 3-locular with axile placentation. Fruit a capsule, usually opening laterally; seeds numerous, dust-like.
Genus Description
Plant epiphytic or lithophytic, usually stemless and leafless; roots flat, scabrid, green photosynthetic. Inflorescence racemose. Flowers ephemeral. Sepals and petals subequal; lateral sepals and petals often adnate to column foot. Lip ± clawed, hinged to apex of column foot, pouched or spurred, 3lobed; lateral lobes large, erect; mid lobe small; disc with a finger like callus, hirsute pubescent. coulmn short; semiterete; column foot long; clinandrium shallow; stigma deepset; rostellum deflexed, bifid; anther cap with 2 long filiform setae; pollinia 4, in 2 closely appressed, unequal, sessile pairs; stipe sublinear.
Species Description
Plant epiphytic; roots numerous, elongate, 2-3mm wide. Inflorescence pendent, pubescent, la x ly many flowered; peduncle sheathed, hirsute, 1.4-2.5cm long; sheaths distant, lanceolate, acute, membranous, 2-3mm long; rachis softly hirsute, 2.5-8cm long; floral bracts ovate lanceolate, membranous, 2-3 x 1-1.5mm. Flowers subsessile, 1.2-1.3cm across; sepals and petals yellow with large brown to red spots or blotches, lip yellow with broad bands of brown; pedicel and ovary subsessile, pubescent, 2-3mm long. Dorsal sepal ovate, obtuse, concave, arching over the column, outer surface hirsute, 5-6 x 3-4mm; lateral sepals ovate orbicular, obtuse, concave, arching over the column, outer surface hirsute, 5-6 x 1.5-3.5mm. Petals subquadrate, truncate, outer surface hirsute, 4-5 x 3-4mm. Lip deeply saccate, parallel to the column, adnate to the column foot, 3lobed; lateral lobes large, erect, obliquely oblong, glabrous, 2.5-3 x 0.8-1.2mm; mid lobe knob like, reduced; sac 1.5-2mm long; disc with a pubescent ridge. Column thick, 1-1.2mm long; foot c 3mm long; anther cap with 2 long, filiform, decurved lateral setae, c 1.5-2mm long. Fruit fusiform cyclindric, 1.6-2.8 x 0.2-0.3cm.
