''Rhynchostylis'' (abbreviated Rhy in the horticultural trade) is a genus in the orchid 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 ...

), closely allied to the genus ''

Vanda ''Vanda'', abbreviated in the horticultural trade as ''V.,'' is a genus in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. There are about 87 species, and the genus is commonly cultivated for the marketplace. This genus and its allies are considered to be among ...

'' (from which it differs in the one-lobed lip of the flower) and comprising four currently accepted species native to the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

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 ...

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> The name consists of a compound of two Greek elements : ''rhynchos'' 'beak' and ''stylis'' 'column' – in reference to the very broad, fleshy column of the flower. The flowers are borne in dense

racemes A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

and are noted for their intense, spicy fragrance. Although lacking in

pseudobulbs The pseudobulb is a storage organ found in many epiphytic and terrestrial sympodial orchids. It is derived from a thickening of the part of a stem between leaf nodes and may be composed of just one internode or several, termed heteroblastic and ...

, the plants have leathery leaves that are drought-resistant. These orchids grow naturally in warm, moist, shaded tropical areas and will thrive in cultivation if given consistent warmth, uniform moisture and bright, but indirect light. Hobbyists wanting to grow them will need a warm, humid growing environment with gentle air movement. They can be grown in pots, but are better grown in baskets, owing to the extreme fleshiness of their roots. Their unusually fragrant blooms often appear in the slightly cooler winter months. Despite being in the ''Vanda'' tribe, they are very different from vandas. They grow more slowly, their roots are more fragile, and almost any direct sun will harm them. However, they are typically grown with no potting mix on slat baskets or mounted in the same way as vandas. The genus possesses valuable medicinal properties meriting in-depth pharmacological investigation, including

antispasmodic An antispasmodic (synonym: spasmolytic) is a pharmaceutical drug or other agent that suppresses muscle spasms. Smooth muscle spasm One type of antispasmodics is used for smooth muscle relaxation, especially in tubular organs of the gastrointesti ...

and

antiseptic An antiseptic (from Greek ἀντί ''anti'', "against" and σηπτικός ''sēptikos'', "putrefactive") is an antimicrobial substance or compound that is applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putre ...

activity. Several species have been found to contain

alkaloids Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar st ...

. The Subtribe was changed from Sarcanthinae (Benth, 1881) to Aeridinae (Pfitzer, 1887) in 1972.

Species

As of February 2022, five species are recognized though many others have been proposed: *''

Rhynchostylis coelestis ''Rhynchostylis coelestis'' is a species of orchid native to Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. The specific epithet ''coelestis'', derived from the Latin ''caelum'' meaning the sky, heavenly, refers to the blue floral colouration. Description The ...

'' (Rchb.f.) A.H. Kent in H.J. Veitch – Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam *''

Rhynchostylis gigantea ''Rhynchostylis gigantea'' is a species of orchid. This species was first described in 1896 by John Lindley and is native to Borneo, Myanmar, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China (Hainan) and the Philippines. ''Rhyncho ...

'' (Lindl.) Ridl. – widespread in Hainan, Andaman Islands, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Borneo, Philippines **''Rhynchostylis gigantea'' subsp. ''gigantea'' – all of species range except Philippines **''Rhynchostylis gigantea'' subsp. ''violacea'' (Lindl.) Christenson – Philippines *''

Rhynchostylis retusa ''Rhynchostylis retusa'' (also called foxtail orchid) is an orchid, belonging to the ''Vanda'' alliance. The inflorescence is a pendant raceme, consisting of more than 100 pink-spotted white flowers. The plant has a short, stout, creeping stem c ...

'' (L.) Blume – Yunnan, Guizhou, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Assam, Bangladesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Indochina, Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Philippines *''

Rhynchostylis rieferi ''Rhynchostylis rieferi'' is a species of orchid endemic to the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipina ...

'' (Higgins) – Philippines *''

Rhynchostylis cymifera ''Rhynchostylis cymifera'' is a species of orchid endemic to India. The specific epithet "cymifera", meaning "cyme bearing", refers to the pendent, basipetal, cymose inflorescences, which are very atypical for the genus and separates this species ...

'' Yohannan, J.Mathew & Szlach. Jordan J. Biol. Sci. 11(3): 257, figs. 1-2 (2018). - South Western Ghats, India

References

External links

* * Vandeae genera Orchids of Asia {{Vandeae-stub