''Lecanorchis'' is a genus of orchids (family

Orchidaceae 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 flowering ...

) belonging to the subfamily

Vanilloideae Vanilloideae is one of the subfamilies of orchids belonging to the large family Orchidaceae. Lindley (1836) and Garay (1986)Garay,L. (1986), Olim Vanillaceae. Botanical Museum Leaflets. Harvard University 30 : 233-237. treated it as a separate f ...

. The scientific name is derived from the Greek words ''lekane'' (basin) and ''orchis'' (orchid). They occur in mountain forest of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

at altitudes of .Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> They are terrestrial, leafless myco-heterotrophs (formerly called saprophytes). They produce numerous, long, thick, horizontal roots under a short

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

. The erect, dark, branched or unbranched stems are thin and brittle. They bear few to many dull brown, purple, yellow or green

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s with a somewhat brighter

lip The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...

. The lip is about of equal length to the

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 coined b ...

s and is covered with dense, yellow hair. Characteristics for this species are: * A calyculus, a cup-like structure formed from a group of small

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s, is present. * The erect gynostemium (the fused

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

and

pistil Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

) is elongate. ''Lecanorchis'' is related to ''

Clematepistephium ''Clematepistephium'' is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It contains only one known species, ''Clematepistephium smilacifolium'', endemic to the island of New Caledonia. Its closest relative is ''Eriaxis'',Cameron ...

'' and ''

Eriaxis ''Eriaxis'' is a monotypic genus of orchids (family Orchidaceae) belonging to the subfamily Vanilloideae. The sole species is ''Eriaxis rigida'', endemic to New Caledonia. Its closest relative is ''Clematepistephium ''Clematepistephium'' is a ...

'', both endemic to

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

Species

Species accepted as of June 2014: # '' Lecanorchis amethystea'' Y.Sawa, Fukunaga & S.Sawa (2006) (Japan, Taiwan) # '' Lecanorchis betongensis'' Suddee & H.A.Pedersen (2011) (Thailand) # '' Lecanorchis bicarinata'' Schltr. (1922) (New Guinea) # '' Lecanorchis brachycarpa'' Ohwi. (1938) (Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan) # '' Lecanorchis ciliolata'' J.J.Sm. (1929) (New Guinea) # '' Lecanorchis flavicans'' Fukuy. (1942) (Ryukyu Islands)(Status : threatened) # ''

Lecanorchis japonica ''Lecanorchis'' is a genus of orchids (family Orchidaceae) belonging to the subfamily Vanilloideae. The scientific name is derived from the Greek words ''lekane'' (basin) and ''orchis'' (orchid). They occur in mountain forest of the Himalayas, C ...

'' Blume (1856) (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Fujian, Hunan) # '' Lecanorchis javanica'' Blume (1856) (Java, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, New Guinea) # '' Lecanorchis latens'' T.P.Lin & W.M.Lin (2011) (Taiwan) # '' Lecanorchis kiusiana'' Tuyama (1955) (Korea, Japan) # '' Lecanorchis malaccensis'' Ridl. (1893) (Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo, Malaysia, Sumatra) # '' Lecanorchis multiflora'' J.J.Sm. (1918) (Thailand, Yunnan, Borneo, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java) # '' Lecanorchis neglecta'' Schltr. (1911) (New Guinea) # '' Lecanorchis nigricans'' Honda (1931) (Japan, Taiwan, Fujian, Thailand, Ryukyu Islands) # '' Lecanorchis seidenfadenii'' Szlach. & Mytnik (2000) (Malaysia) # '' Lecanorchis sikkimensis'' N.Pearce & P.J.Cribb (1999) (Sikkim, Bhutan) # '' Lecanorchis subpelorica'' T.C.Hsu & S.W.Chung, (2010) (Taiwan) # '' Lecanorchis suginoana'' (Tuyama) Seriz. (2005) # '' Lecanorchis thalassica'' T.P.Lin (1987) (Taiwan) #'' Lecanorchis vietnamica'' Aver. (2005), Vietnam #'' Lecanorchis virella'' T.Hashim. (1989) (Japan, Taiwan) A new species, '' Lecanorchis tabugawaensis'' was described in 2016.

References

* (1856) Museum Botanicum 2: 188. * (2003) Genera Orchidacearum 3: 316 ff. Oxford University Press. * Orchid Research Newsletter 47 (January 2006) - Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. * - ''Lecanorchis seidenfadeni (Orchidaceae, Vanilloideae), a new orchid species from Malaya'' ; An.Bot.Fennici 37;227-230 (on line

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q133710 Vanilloideae genera Vanilleae Myco-heterotrophic orchids