''Corycium'' is a genus of terrestrial

orchid 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. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...

s comprising some 14 species in Eastern and Southern Africa including 10 species native to the fynbos.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> In

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

they are called monkshood orchids. Their resting stage is a

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growin ...

and when growing they have many leaves scattered along the stem but concentrated near the base. The dense spikes of flowers are not particularly striking and are often brown, green or purple. The uppermost 3

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s are connivent into a hood whilst the lateral

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

s are almost united. The lip is joined to the column bearing an appendage that covers the anthers

Species

#'' Corycium alticola'' Parkman & Schelpe - South Africa, Lesotho #'' Corycium bicolorum'' (Thunb.) Sw. - South Africa #'' Corycium bifidum'' Sond. - South Africa #''

Corycium carnosum ''Corycium'' is a genus of terrestrial orchids comprising some 14 species in Eastern and Southern Africa including 10 species native to the fynbos. In South Africa they are called monkshood orchids. Their resting stage is a tuber and when gro ...

'' (Lindl.) Rolfe in W.H.Harvey - South Africa #'' Corycium crispum'' (Thunb.) Sw. - South Africa #'' Corycium deflexum'' (Bolus) Rolfe in W.H.Harvey - South Africa #'' Corycium dracomontanum'' Parkman & Schelpe - South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi #'' Corycium excisum'' Lindl. - South Africa #'' Corycium flanaganii'' (Bolus) Kurzweil & H.P.Linder - South Africa, Lesotho #'' Corycium ingeanum'' E.G.H.Oliv. - South Africa #'' Corycium microglossum'' Lindl. - South Africa #'' Corycium nigrescens'' Sond. - South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Tanzania #''

Corycium orobanchoides ''Corycium'' is a genus of terrestrial orchids comprising some 14 species in Eastern and Southern Africa including 10 species native to the fynbos. In South Africa they are called monkshood orchids. Their resting stage is a tuber and when gro ...

'' (L.f.) Sw. - South Africa #''

Corycium tricuspidatum ''Corycium'' is a genus of terrestrial orchids comprising some 14 species in Eastern and Southern Africa including 10 species native to the fynbos. In South Africa they are called monkshood orchids. Their resting stage is a tuber and when gro ...

'' Bolus - South Africa

References

* (1800) Kongl. Vetenskaps Academiens Nya Handlingar 21: 220. * (2001) Orchidoideae (Part 1). Genera Orchidacearum 2: 23 ff. Oxford University Press.

External links

* * Coryciinae Orchideae genera {{Orchidoideae-stub