The taxonomy of the Orchidaceae (

orchid family 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 ...

) has evolved slowly during the last 250 years, starting with

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

who in 1753 recognized eight genera.Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné). 1753. ''Species Plantarum'', 1st edition, vol. 2, pages 939-954. Holmiae: Impensis Laurentii Salvii (Lars Salvius). (A facsimile with an introduction by William T. Stearn was published by the Ray Society in 1957). (See ''External links'' below).

De Jussieu De Jussieu, the name of a French family which came into prominence towards the close of the sixteenth century, and was known for a century and a half for the botanists it produced. The following are its more eminent members: *Antoine de Jussieu (1 ...

recognized the Orchidaceae as a separate

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

in his

Genera Plantarum ''Genera Plantarum'' is a publication of Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). The first edition was issued in Leiden, 1737. The fifth edition served as a complementary volume to ''Species Plantarum'' (1753). Article 13 of the Internati ...

in 1789.Antoine Laurent de Jussieu. 1789. "ORCHIDEAE" pages 64-66. In: ''Genera plantarum: secundum ordines naturales disposita,···'' (See ''External links'' below).

Olof Swartz Olof Peter Swartz (21 September 1760 – 19 September 1818) was a Swedish botanist and taxonomist. He is best known for his taxonomic work and studies into pteridophytes. Biography Olof Swartz attended the University of Uppsala where he s ...

recognized 25 genera in 1800.Olof Swartz. 1800. "Afhandling om Orchidernes Slägter och deras Systematiska indelning". ''Kongliga vetenskaps academiens nya handlingar'' 21:115-139. (See ''External links'' below).

Louis Claude Richard Louis Claude Marie Richard (19 September 1754 – 6 June 1821) was a French botanist and botanical illustrator. Richard was born at Versailles. Between 1781 and 1789 he collected botanical specimens in Central America and the West Indies. On his r ...

provided us in 1817 with the descriptive terminology of the orchids.Louis Claude Richard. 1817. ''De Orchideis Europaeis annotationes''. Parisiis, ex typographia A. Belin. (See ''External links'' below). The next step was taken in 1830-1840 by John Lindley, who recognized four subfamilies.John Lindley. 1830-1840. ''The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants''. Ridgeways, Piccadilly: London, UK. He is generally recognized as the father of orchid

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

. The next important step was taken by

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

with a new classification, recognizing subtribes for the first time. This classification was first presented in a

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...

that Bentham read to the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1881.George Bentham. 1881. page 288. In: "Notes on Orchideae". ''The Journal of the Linnean Society. Botany''. 18(110):281-367. (See ''External links'' below).Alec M. Pridgeon, Phillip J. Cribb, Mark W. Chase, and Finn N. Rasmussen. 1999-2014. ''Genera Orchidacearum''. Oxford University Press. (volume 1), (volume 2), (volume 3), (volume 4), (volume 5), (volume 6) Then it was

published Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, news ...

in 1883 in the final volume of

.George Bentham and Joseph Dalton Hooker. 1883. ''Genera Plantarum'' (Bentham & Hooker, 1883) volume 3, part 2, pages 460-488. L.Reeve & Co.; Williams & Norgate: London, UK. (See ''External links'' below). The next great contributors were Pfitzer (1887), Schlechter (1926),

Mansfeld Mansfeld, sometimes also unofficially Mansfeld-Lutherstadt, is a town in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Protestant reformator Martin Luther grew up in Mansfeld, and in 1993 the town became one of sixteen places in ...

(1937), Dressler and Dodson (1960), Garay (1960, 1972), Vermeulen (1966), again Dressler (1981).Robert L. Dressler. 1981. ''The Orchids: Natural History and Classification''. Harvard University Press. . (See ''External links'' below). and Burns-Balogh and Funk (1986). Dressler's 1993 book had considerable influence on later work.Robert L. Dressler. 1993. ''Phylogeny and Classification of the Orchid Family''. Cambridge University Press. . 314 pages ''Genera Orchidacearum'' was published in 6 volumes over 15 years, from 1999 to 2014. It covers all of the known orchids, including a

description Description is the pattern of narrative development that aims to make vivid a place, object, character, or group. Description is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as ''modes of discourse''), along with exposition, argumentation, and narra ...

of each genus. It reflects the considerable progress in orchid taxonomy that had been made since Dressler published his classification in 1993. In the 1990s, orchid taxonomy began to be influenced by

molecular phylogenetics Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

based on DNA sequences. The first molecular phylogenetic study to include a substantial

sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...

of orchids was published in 1999.Kenneth M. Cameron, Mark W. Chase, W. Mark Whitten, Paul J. Kores, David C. Jarrell, Victor A. Albert, Tomohisa Yukawa, Harold G. Hills and Douglas H. Goldman. 1999. "A phylogenetic analysis of the Orchidaceae: evidence from rbcL nucleotide sequences". ''American Journal of Botany'' 86 (2): 208-224. (See ''External links'' below). The first classification that was based on

cladistic Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived char ...

analysis of DNA

data In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete Value_(semiotics), values that convey information, describing quantity, qualitative property, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of sy ...

was published by

Chase Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England * Chase Co ...

et alii in 2003.Mark W. Chase, Kenneth M. Cameron, Russell L. Barrett, and John V. Freudenstein. 2003. "DNA data and Orchidaceae systematics: a new phylogenetic classification". pages 69-89. In: Kingsley W. Dixon, Shelagh P. Kell, Russell L. Barrett, and Phillip J. Cribb (editors). 2003. ''Orchid Conservation''. Natural History Publications, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. . (See ''External links'' below). An update to that classification was published by Chase et alii in 2015.Mark W. Chase, Kenneth M. Cameron, John V. Freudenstein, Alec M. Pridgeon, Gerardo A. Salazar, Cássio van den Berg, and André Schuiteman. 2015. "An updated classification of Orchidaceae". ''Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society'' 177 (2): 151-174. (See ''External links'' below). This classification takes a different approach from ''Genera Orchidacearum'', by consolidating many of the tribes and subtribes, and by recognizing very widely

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

genera. As of 2015, Orchidaceae was not yet covered in ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'', though most of the

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...

families had been covered by that time. The number of genera recognized in the family has varied from one classification to another. In ''Genera Orchidacearum'', many genera were consolidated, reducing their number to 765, smaller than in any previous modern classification. In 2015, Chase et alii merged even more genera, reducing their number to 736. Useful resources include the

World Checklist of Selected Plant Families The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (usually abbreviated to WCSP) is an "international collaborative programme that provides the latest peer reviewed and published opinions on the accepted scientific names and synonyms of selected pla ...

Wikispecies Wikispecies is a wiki-based online project supported by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aim is to create a comprehensive open content catalogue of all species; the project is directed at scientists, rather than at the general public. Jimmy Wa ...

(

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 follows this source with modifications as they become accepted. The Plant List also has lists of genera and species, but no other taxonomic information. (Also see ''External links'' below).

History

The following

follows largely the classification system of Robert Louis Dressler, an

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 ...

specialist and adjunct

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

at the Florida Museum of Natural History. This classification, published in 1981 in the book ''The Orchids: Natural History and Classification'', was widely accepted by botanists and growers before the

publication To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Conve ...

of ''Genera Orchidacearum''. The initial scheme of 1981 was modified in 1986, twice in 1990, and then again in 1993. This comprehensive classification relies heavily on

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

, especially a few key

characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

, such as anther configuration and

pollinarium A pollinium (plural pollinia) is a coherent mass of pollen grains in a plant that are the product of only one anther, but are transferred, during pollination, as a single unit. This is regularly seen in plants such as orchids and many species of mil ...

structure. Consequently, many of the

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

are not monophyletic. Cladistic analyses, especially those based on molecular

, provide a firmer basis for classification than

intuition Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning. Different fields use the word "intuition" in very different ways, including but not limited to: direct access to unconscious knowledge; unconscious cognition; ...

, and the certainty (or uncertainty) of conclusions can be quantified by measures of statistical support. While our understanding of orchid

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spe ...

has greatly improved in recent years, the elucidation of orchid relationships is still ongoing. When Dressler published his classification in 1993, the relationships of orchids to other

monocot Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, (Lilianae ''sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are grass and grass-like flowering plants (angiosperms), the seeds of which typically contain only one Embryo#Plant embryos, embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. Th ...

s was still unknown. Some of the first molecular phylogenetic studies of

s resolved the Orchidaceae as

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

to the astelioid clade of the order

Asparagales Asparagales (asparagoid lilies) is an order of plants in modern classification systems such as the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) and the Angiosperm Phylogeny Web. The order takes its name from the type family Asparagaceae and is placed in t ...

, but this result never had strong statistical support. It is now known that Orchidaceae is the most basal clade in Asparagales, with the astelioid clade diverging next. (See ''External links'' below).Peter F. Stevens (2001 onwards). "Orchidaceae" At:

Angiosperm Phylogeny Website The Angiosperm Phylogeny Website (or APweb) is a website dedicated to research on angiosperm phylogeny and taxonomy. The site is hosted by the Missouri Botanical Garden website and maintained by researchers, Peter F. Stevens and Hilary M. Davis ...

. At:

Missouri Botanical Garden The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million ...

Website. (see ''External links'' below) According to

analyses based on morphological character states or on

nucleotide Nucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are essential biomolecule ...

sequences, the orchid family is a monophyletic group. The subfamilies recognized by Dressler, however, were not all monophyletic. Dressler's delimitation of subfamilies was contradicted by subsequent studies of mitochondrial, chloroplast, and

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: * Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

DNA sequences. In 2003, a new

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

classification divided Orchidaceae into five subfamilies: Apostasioideae, Vanilloideae, Cypripedioideae, Orchidoideae, and Epidendroideae. These five subfamilies were all strongly supported as monophyletic groups in subsequent studies. In 2003, the position of Vanilloideae remained equivocal. The subfamilies Orchidoideae and Epidendroideae clearly formed a monophyletic group and Dressler believed that their closest relative was Vanilloideae. In 2006, a study based on the plastid

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...

rbcL Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase, commonly known by the abbreviations RuBisCo, rubisco, RuBPCase, or RuBPco, is an enzyme () involved in the first major step of carbon fixation, a process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is con ...

and atpB found the closest relative of this pair to be Cypripedioideae, rather than Vanilloideae.Kenneth M. Cameron. 2006. "A comparison and combination of plastid atpB and rbcL gene sequences for inferring phylogenetic relationships within Orchidaceae". pages 447-464. In: J. Travis Columbus, Elizabeth A. Friar, J. Mark Porter, Linda M. Prince, and Michael G. Simpson (editors). ''Aliso'' 22 (''Monocots: Comparative Biology and Evolution''). 735 pages. Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. printed by Allen Press: USA. This result had only weak

maximum parsimony In phylogenetics, maximum parsimony is an optimality criterion under which the phylogenetic tree that minimizes the total number of character-state changes (or miminizes the cost of differentially weighted character-state changes) is preferred. ...

jackknife support, but in a

phylogenomic Phylogenomics is the intersection of the fields of evolution and genomics. The term has been used in multiple ways to refer to analysis that involves genome data and evolutionary reconstructions. It is a group of techniques within the larger fields ...

study in 2015, it received strong

maximum likelihood In statistics, maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) is a method of estimating the parameters of an assumed probability distribution, given some observed data. This is achieved by maximizing a likelihood function so that, under the assumed stat ...

bootstrap support. Since 2006, phylogenies of two of the subfamilies, VanilloideaeKenneth M. Cameron. 2011. "Vanilloid Orchids: Systematics and Evolution". pages 1-14. In: Eric Odoux and Michel Grisoni (editors). ''Medicinal and Aromatic Plants – Industrial Profiles''. CRC Press: Boca Raton FL, USA. and Epidendroideae have been published. Phylogenies of several tribes and subtribes have also been published. Compared to previous classifications, more of the tribes and subtribes of Dressler were monophyletic, but not all of them were supported by subsequent studies. In the classification that was published in 2015, the authors expressed doubt about their division of the tribes

Orchideae Orchideae is a tribe of orchids in the subfamily Orchidoideae. Historically, it was divided into 2 subtribes, Orchidinae and Habenariinae. The subtribe Orchidinae alone contains about 1,800 species. However, although some phylogenetic studies ha ...

and

Vandeae The Vandeae is a large monophyletic tribe within the family of orchids. Scope This tribe contains 1,700 - 2,000 species in more than 150 genera. Epiphytic These orchids are pantropical epiphytes and occur in tropical Asia, the Pacific Island ...

into subtribes. The placement of the genera ''

Pachites ''Pachites'' is a genus of flowering plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It contains two known species, both endemic to South Africa.Hans Peter Linder and Hubert Kurzweil. 1999. ''Orchids of Southern Africa''. 504 pages. A. A. Balkema. .Kew ...

'', '' Holothrix'', and ''

Hederorkis ''Hederorkis'' is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It contains two known species, both native to islands in the Indian Ocean (Seychelles and Mauritius). Description As opposed to ''Polystachya'' (the largest gen ...

'' is especially problematic. The monophyly of the subtribe Cranichidinae is also in doubt. These authors singled out the tribe Podochileae, as well as the subtribes

Oncidiinae The Oncidiinae is a subtribe within the Orchidaceae that consists of a number of genera that are closely related. This subtribe consists of about 70 genera with over 1000 species, with '' Oncidium'' as its largest genus. These genera consist of ...

Goodyerinae Goodyerinae is an orchid subtribe in the tribe Cranichideae. Certain orchids in this subtribe are referred to as jewel orchids, for instance ''Ludisia'', '' Goodyera'', '' Dossinia'', and '' Anoectochilus''. Genera Genera accepted in Chase et ...

, and Angraecinae as being in special need of phylogenetic study. The basal epidendroids, especially the tribe

Gastrodieae Gastrodieae is an orchid tribe in the subfamily Epidendroideae. Genera Genera included in Chase et al.'s 2015 classification of orchids: * ''Auxopus ''Auxopus'' is a genus of the family Orchidaceae. It belongs to the tribe Gastrodieae. Litt ...

, remain poorly sampled in phylogenetic studies.

Taxonomy

The orchid family (

) is subdivided into five subfamilies, and then into tribes and subtribes. Groups of closely related genera are sometimes referred to informally as alliances. An alliance is a group of taxa, at any

taxonomic rank In biological classification, taxonomic rank is the relative level of a group of organisms (a taxon) in an ancestral or hereditary hierarchy. A common system consists of species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom, domain. While ...

, but usually at the rank of genus or species, that are thought to be closely related. Alliances are designated provisionally and are not recognized in the

ICNAFP The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all those "trad ...

. The subtribes are formally divided into genera. Some of the genera are divided into subgenera, and some of the subgenera are divided into

sections Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

. All of the genera contain at least one species. A special

nomenclature Nomenclature (, ) is a system of names or terms, or the rules for forming these terms in a particular field of arts or sciences. The principles of naming vary from the relatively informal conventions of everyday speech to the internationally ag ...

is used to name hybrids between different species. About 150 species and about a dozen new genera were described each year from 2000 to 2015. According to Dressler, there are 5 subfamilies, 22 tribes, 70 subtribes, and about 850 genera of orchids. When he published his classification, only about 20,000 species of orchids were known. Several thousand have been described since then. A distinction between monandrous flowers and others is especially important in the classification of orchids. A monandrous flower is one that has only a single stamen. The flowers are monandrous in the subfamilies Vanilloideae, Orchidoideae, and Epidendroideae. Like many others before him, Dressler believed that the monandrous orchids form a monophyletic group. It is now known that monandry arose twice in the orchids, once in Vanilloideae, and again in the

common ancestor Common descent is a concept in evolutionary biology applicable when one species is the ancestor of two or more species later in time. All living beings are in fact descendants of a unique ancestor commonly referred to as the last universal comm ...

of Orchidoideae and Epidendroideae. The other subfamilies,

Apostasioideae Apostasioideae is one of the five subfamilies recognised within the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Only two genera, '' Neuwiedia'' and ''Apostasia'', and 15 species, are recognised within the Apostasioideae in contrast to the other orchid subfamili ...

and

Cypripedioideae Cypripedioideae is a subfamily of orchids commonly known as lady's slipper orchids, lady slipper orchids or slipper orchids. Cypripedioideae includes the genera ''Cypripedium, Mexipedium, Paphiopedilum, Phragmipedium'' and ''Selenipedium''. The ...

, have either three stamens or two stamens and a staminode. The following subfamilies are recognized: *Subfamily

: monophyletic - the most basal of the orchids: three fertile anthers, or two fertile anthers and a filamentous staminode. *Subfamily

: monophyletic - two fertile diandrous anthers, a shield-shaped staminode and a saccate (= pouch-like)

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 ...

. *Subfamily

Orchidoideae The Orchidoideae, or the orchidoid orchids, are a subfamily of the orchid family (Orchidaceae) that contains around 3630 species. Species typically have a single ( monandrous), fertile anther which is erect and basitonic. Description The subf ...

: monophyletic - one fertile, monandrous, basitonic anther. **(Subfamily Spiranthoideae): now accepted as nested within a more broadly defined Orchidoideae as the sub-tribe Spiranthinae of the tribe Cranichideae. *Subfamily

Epidendroideae Epidendroideae is a subfamily of plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Epidendroideae is larger than all the other orchid subfamilies together, comprising more than 15,000 species in 576 genera. Most epidendroid orchids are tropical epiphytes ...

: monophyletic - includes almost 80% of the orchid species; orchids with an incumbent to suberect (= ascending towards the edges) anther. **(Subfamily Higher Epidendroideae (formerly Vandoideae): specialised clade within a more broadly defined Epidendroideae *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 ...

: monophyletic - an ancient clade now recognized as a distinct subfamily. Their phylogenetic position had long been controversial.

Cladistically Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived char ...

, the interrelationships of these subfamilies can be shown in a phylogenetic tree as follows:

Subfamily
Apostasioideae Apostasioideae is one of the five subfamilies recognised within the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Only two genera, '' Neuwiedia'' and ''Apostasia'', and 15 species, are recognised within the Apostasioideae in contrast to the other orchid subfamili ...

The subfamily Apostasioideae belongs to the orchid family (Orchidaceae). All well-sampled molecular phylogenetic studies have produced strong bootstrap support for its position as

to a clade consisting of the other orchid subfamilies. Bootstraping is a method of resampling for quantifying the statistical support for nodes in a phylogenetic tree (= a treelike diagram showing the

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

ary

diversification Diversification may refer to: Biology and agriculture * Genetic divergence, emergence of subpopulations that have accumulated independent genetic changes * Agricultural diversification involves the re-allocation of some of a farm's resources to ...

organism In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and ...

s). The apostasioid orchids are the most primitive orchids, with only two genera. ''Neuwiedia'' has three fertile, abaxial (= facing away from the stem) anthers, while ''Apostasia'' has two fertile abaxial anthers and a filamentous staminode (= a sterile stamen). Plants with mealy or paste-like pollen, which ordinarily are not aggregated into pellets, called

pollinia A pollinium (plural pollinia) is a coherent mass of pollen grains in a plant that are the product of only one anther, but are transferred, during pollination, as a single unit. This is regularly seen in plants such as orchids and many species of mil ...

, with two or three fertile long anthers, leaves with sheathing bases, elongated staminode and labellum similar to the petals. These primitive features make them, according to some authorities, not true orchids but rather

ancestors An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from w ...

of modern orchids. However, more recent studies indicate that many of their differences with the other orchids were not inherited from a

with orchids, but arose within the

stem group In phylogenetics, the crown group or crown assemblage is a collection of species composed of the living representatives of the collection, the most recent common ancestor of the collection, and all descendants of the most recent common ancestor. ...

of apostasioid orchids. ::'' Apostasia'' Blume, included ''Adactylus'' Rolfe and ''Mesodactylis'' Wall. ::'' Neuwiedia'' Blume

Subfamily
Cypripedioideae Cypripedioideae is a subfamily of orchids commonly known as lady's slipper orchids, lady slipper orchids or slipper orchids. Cypripedioideae includes the genera ''Cypripedium, Mexipedium, Paphiopedilum, Phragmipedium'' and ''Selenipedium''. The ...

6 genera with about 115 species, mostly terrestrials or

lithophyte Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. They can be classified as either epilithic (or epipetric) or endolithic; epilithic lithophytes grow on the surfaces of rocks, while endolithic lithophytes grow in the crevices of rocks (and are als ...

Tribe Cypripedieae

Subtribe Cypripediinae ::''

Cypripedium ''Cypripedium'' is a genus of 58 species and nothospecies of hardy orchids; it is one of five genera that together compose the subfamily of lady's slipper orchids ( Cypripedioideae). They are widespread across much of the Northern Hemisphere, i ...

Lindl. John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley ...

, included ''Arietinum'' Beck, ''Calceolaria'' Heist. ex Fabr., '' Calceolus'' Nieuwl., '' Ciripedium'' Zumagl., '' Criogenes''

Salisb. Richard Anthony Salisbury, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (born Richard Anthony Markham; 2 May 1761 – 23 March 1829) was a British botanist. While he carried out valuable work in horticultural and botanical sciences, several bitter disputes ...

, '' Fissipes'' Small, '' Hypodema'' Rchb., '' Sacodon'' Raf., '' Schizopedium''

, '' Stimegas'' Raf. Subtribe Paphiopedilinae ::''

Paphiopedilum ''Paphiopedilum'', often called the Venus slipper, is a genus of the lady slipper orchid subfamily '' Cypripedioideae'' of the flowering plant family Orchidaceae. The genus comprises some 80 accepted taxa including several natural hybrids. The ...

'' Pfitzer, included ''Cordula'' Raf. and '' Menephora'' Raf.

Tribe Mexipedieae

Subtribe Mexipediinae ::''

Mexipedium ''Mexipedium'' is a monotypic genus of the Orchid family Orchidaceae, subfamily Cypripedioideae, consisting of only one species, ''Mexipedium xerophyticum''. It is also the single genus of tribe Mexipedieae and subtribe Mexipediinae. Taxonomy an ...

'' V.A.Albert & M.W.Chase

Tribe Phragmipedieae

Subtribe Phragmipediinae ::''

Phragmipedium ''Phragmipedium'' is a genus of the Orchid family (Orchidaceae) (Subfamily Cypripedioideae) and the only genus comprised in the tribe Phragmipedieae and subtribe Phragmipediinae. The name of the genus is derived from the Greek ''phragma'', which ...

'' Rolfe, included ''Phragmopedilum'' Pfitzer, '' Uropedium''

Tribe Selenipedieae

Subtribe Selenipediinae ::''

Selenipedium ''Selenipedium'' is a genus of the Orchid family (''Orchidaceae'') (Subfamily ''Cypripedioideae''). The genus has been given its own tribe, Selenipedieae, and subtribe, Selenipediinae.Pridgeon, A.M.; Cribb, P.J.; Chase, M.W. & F. N. Rasmussen (1 ...

'' Rchb.f.

Others

:: × ''Phragmipaphium'' hort.

Subfamily
Epidendroideae Epidendroideae is a subfamily of plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Epidendroideae is larger than all the other orchid subfamilies together, comprising more than 15,000 species in 576 genera. Most epidendroid orchids are tropical epiphytes ...

This is the largest subfamily, comprising more than 10,000 species in about 90 to 100 genera. Most are

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

epiphytes (usually with

pseudobulb 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 ...

s), but some are terrestrials and even a few are

myco-heterotrophs Myco-heterotrophy (from Greek μύκης , "fungus", ἕτερος ', "another", "different" and τροφή ', "nutrition") is a symbiotic relationship between certain kinds of plants and fungi, in which the plant gets all or part of its food fr ...

. All show a unique development of the single anther: it is incumbent, meaning that it forms a right angle with the column axis or pointed backward in many genera. Most have hard

, i.e. a mass of waxy pollen or of coherent pollen grains; pollinia with caudicle and

viscidium A pollinium (plural pollinia) is a coherent mass of pollen grains in a plant that are the product of only one anther, but are transferred, during pollination, as a single unit. This is regularly seen in plants such as orchids and many species of m ...

or without; stigma entire or 3-lobed;

rostellum The rostellum is a projecting part of the column in Orchidaceae flowers, and separates the male androecium from the female gynoecium, commonly preventing self-fertilisation. In many orchids, such as '' Orchis mascula'', the pollinia or pollen ma ...

present; 1- locular ovary; leaves: distichous or spiraling

Tribe Arethuseae

Over 500 species. Aretha

Subtribe Arethusinae ::''Arethusa (plant), Arethusa'' Carl Linnaeus, L. :: × Elearethusa, × ''Elearethusa'' :: × Elecalthusa, × ''Elecalthusa'' ::''Eleorchis'' F.Maek. :: × Elepogon, × ''Elepogon'' Subtribe Bletiinae ::''Ancistrochilus'' Rolfe ::''Anthogonium'' Wall. ex

::''Cephalantheropsis'' André Guillaumin, Guillaumin ::''Eriodes'' Rolfe, included ''Neotainiopsis'' S.S.R. Bennet, Bennet & Mukat Behari Raizada, Raizada, ''Tainiopsis'' Rudolf Schlechter, Schltr. ::''Hancockia'' Rolfe ::''Hexalectris'' Raf. ::''Ipsea''

::''Mischobulbum'' Rudolf Schlechter, Schltr., included ''Mischobulbon'' Rudolf Schlechter, Schltr. (orth. var.) ::''Nephelaphyllum'' Blume ::''Pachystoma'' Blume, included ''Apaturia''

, ''Pachychilus'' Blume and ''Pachystylis'' Blume Arundina graminifolia USGS

:Alliance Arundina ::''Arundina'' Louis Claude Richard, Rich.

:Alliance Calopogon ::''Calopogon'' Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Montrose), R.Br., included ''Cathea''

, ''Helleborine'' Otto Kuntze, Kuntze :Alliance Calanthe ::''Acanthophippium'' Blume, included ''Acanthophippium'' Blume (orth. var.) ::''Bletia'' Hipólito Ruiz López, Ruiz & Pav., included ''Anthogyas'' Raf., ''Bletiana'' Raf., ''Crybe''

, ''Gyas''

, ''Regnellia'' Barb. Rodr., ''Thiebautia'' Luigi Aloysius Colla, Colla ::''Bletilla'' Rchb.f., included ''Jimensia'' Raf., ''Polytoma'' Lour. ex Bernardino António Gomes, Gomes ::''Calanthe'' Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Montrose), R.Br., included ''Alismorkis'' Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars, Thouars, ''Amblyglottis'' Blume, ''Aulostylis'' Rudolf Schlechter, Schltr., ''Calanthidum'' Pfitzer, ''Centrosia'' A.Rich., ''Centrosis'' Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars, Thouars, ''Cytheris''

, ''Ghiesbreghtia'' A.Rich. & Henri Guillaume Galeotti, Galeotti, ''Limatodes'' Blume, ''Paracalanthe'' Kudô, ''Preptanthe'' Rchb.f., ''Styloglossum'' Breda, ''Sylvalismis'' Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars, Thouars ::''Phaius'' Lour., included ''Cyanorchis'' Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars, Thouars, ''Gastorchis'' Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars, Thouars, ''Gastrorchis'' Rudolf Schlechter, Schltr., ''Hecabe'' Raf., ''Pachyne''

, ''Pesomeria''

, ''Tankervillia'' Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link, Link ::''Spathoglottis'' Blume, included ''Paxtonia''

:Alliance Coelia ::''Coelia''

, included ''Bothriochilus'' Lem. :Alliance Chysis :: ''Chysis''

, included ''Thorvaldsenia'' Liebm. :Alliance Plocoglottis ::''Plocoglottis'' Blume :Alliance Tainia ::''Tainia'' Blume, included ''Ania''

, ''Ascotainia'' Ridl., ''Mitopetalum'' Blume Subtribe Sobraliinae ::''Sobralia'' Hipólito Ruiz López, Ruiz & Pav., included ''Cyathoglottis'' Poepp. & Endl., ''Fregea'' Rchb.f., ''Lindsayella'' Oakes Ames, Ames & C.Schweinf. Subtribe Thuniinae ::''Thunia'' Rchb.f.

Tribe Calypsoeae

::''Aplectrum hyemale, Aplectrum'' (Nutt.) Torr. ::''Calypso orchid, Calypso'', included ''Calypsodium'' Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link, Link, ''Cytherea''

, ''Norna'' Wahlenb., ''Orchidium'' Olof Swartz, Sw. ::''Tipularia'' Nutt., included ''Anthericlis'' Raf., ''Plecturus'' Raf. ::''Wullschlaegelia'' Rchb.f.

Tribe Cryptarrheneae

::''Cryptarrhena'' Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Montrose), R.Br., included ''Orchidofunckia'' A.Rich. & Henri Guillaume Galeotti, Galeotti

Tribe Coelogyneae

Over 400 species Subtribe Adrorhizinae ::''Adrorhizon'' Hook.f. Subtribe Coelogyninae ::''Coelogyne''

, included ''Bolborchis''

, ''Hologyne'' Pfitzer, ''Ptychogyne'' Pfitzer ::''Dendrochilum'' Blume, included ''Acoridium'' Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck, Nees & Franz Julius Ferdinand Meyen, Meyen, ''Platyclinis'' George Bentham, Benth. ::''Pleione (plant), Pleione'' D.Don

Tribe Epidendreae

Cosmopolitan distribution, Cosmopolitan; largest tribe of this subfamily, with over 8,000 species Subtribe Glomerinae ::''Agrostophyllum'' Blume ::''Earina''

::''Glomera'' Blume, included ''Ischnocentrum'' Rudolf Schlechter, Schltr.,''Sepalosiphon'' Rudolf Schlechter, Schltr. Subtribe Laeliinae: over 1400 species, mostly tropical American epiphytes, in 43 genera. It contains more than 25% (136) of all hybrid genera. :Alliance Isochilus ::''Hexisea''

, included ''Costaricaea'' Rudolf Schlechter, Schltr., ''Euothonaea'' Rchb.f., ::''Isochilus'' Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Montrose), R.Br. :Alliance Cattleya ::''Brassavola'' Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Montrose), R.Br., included ''Eudisanthema'' Neck. ex George Edward Post, Post & Otto Kuntze, Kuntze, ''Lysimnia'' Raf., ''Tulexis'' Raf. ::''Broughtonia (plant), Broughtonia'' Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Montrose), R.Br., included ''Cattleyopsis'' Lem., ''Laeliopsis''

& Joseph Paxton, Paxton ::''Cattleya''

, included ''Maelenia'' Dumort. ::''Encyclia'' Hook., included ''Amblostoma'' Scheidw., ''Dinema''

, ''Hormidium'' (

) Gustav Heynhold, Heynh., ''Sulpitia'' Raf. ::''Laelia''

, included ''Amalia'' Rchb. ::''Myrmecophila'' Rolfe ::''Rhyncholaelia'' Rudolf Schlechter, Schltr. ::''Schomburgkia''

::''Sophronitis''

, included ''Lophoglottis'' Raf., ''Sophronia''

::''Guarianthe ''Dressler & W.E. Higgins (2003) :Alliance Barkeria ::''Barkeria'' George Beauchamp Knowles, Knowles & Westc. ::''Caularthron'' Raf., included ''Diacrium'' (

) George Bentham, Benth. :Alliance Epidendrum ::''Epidendrum'' Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, Jacq., included ''Amphiglottis''

, ''Anacheilium'' Hoffmanns., ''Anocheil Hoffmanns. ex Rchb., ''Auliza'' Small, ''Coilostylis'' Raf., ''Didothion'' Raf., ''Diothonea''

, ''Dothilophis'' Raf., ''Doxosma'' Raf., ''Epicladium'' Small, ''Epidanthus'' L.O.Williams, ''Epidendropsis'' Garay & Dunst., ''Exophya'' Raf., ''Hemiscleria''

, ''Kalopternix'' Garay & Dunst., ''Lanium'' (

) George Bentham, Benth., ''Larnandra'' Raf., ''Microepidendrum'' Friedrich Gustav Brieger, Brieger (nom. inval.), ''Minicolumna'' Friedrich Gustav Brieger, Brieger (nom. inval.), ''Nanodes''

, ''Neolehmannia'' Kraenzl., ''Neowilliamsia'' Garay, ''Nyctosma'' Raf., ''Phadrosanthus'' Neck. ex Raf., ''Physinga''

, ''Pleuranthium'' George Bentham, Benth., ''Prosthechea'' George Beauchamp Knowles, Knowles & Westc., ''Pseudepidendrum'' Rchb.f., ''Seraphyta'' Friedrich Ernst Ludwig von Fischer, Fisch. & C.A.Mey., ''Spathiger'' Small, ''Stenoglossum'' Carl Sigismund Kunth, Kunth, ''Tritelandra'' Raf. :Alliance Leptotes (plant), Leptotes ::''Leptotes (plant), Leptotes''

:Alliance Neocogniauxia ::''Neocogniauxia'' Rudolf Schlechter, Schltr. ::''Dilomilis'' Rafinesque, Raf. ::''Tomzanonia'' Mark Nir, Nir :Alliance hybrids ::× Brassocattleya, × ''Brassocattleya'' hort. ::× Brassoepidendrum, × ''Brassoepidendrum'' hort. ::× Brassolaeliocattleya, × ''Brassolaeliocattleya'' hort. ::× Cattleytonia, × ''Cattleytonia'' hort. ::× Cattlianthe, × ''Cattlianthe'' J.M.H.Shaw ::× Epicattleya, × ''Epicattleya'' hort. ::× Epilaeliocattleya, × ''Epilaeliocattleya'' hort. ::× Hawkinsara, × ''Hawkinsara'' hort. ::× Laeliocatarthron, × ''Laeliocatarthron'' J.M.H.Shaw ::× Laeliocatonia, × ''Laeliocatonia'' hort. ::× Laeliocattleya, × ''Laeliocattleya'' Rolfe ::× Otaara, × ''Otaara'' hort. ::× Potinara, × ''Potinara'' hort. ::× Rhyncholaeliocattleya, × ''Rhyncholaeliocattleya'' H.G.Jones ::× Schombocattleya, × ''Schombocattleya'' hort. ::× Sophrocattleya, × ''Sophrocattleya'' Rolfe ::× Sophrolaelia, × ''Sophrolaelia'' hort. ::× Sophrolaeliocattleya, × ''Sophrolaeliocattleya'' hort. Subtribe Meiracyllinae ::''Meiracyllium'' Rchb.f. Subtribe Pleurothallidinae: These species have single leaves, non-pseudobulbous Glossary of botanical terms#ramicaul, ramicauls, articulated ovary, deciduous from the pedicel. *Genera: ''Acianthera'', ''Acostaea'', ''Anathallis'', ''Barbosella'', ''Barbrodria'', ''Brachionidium'', ''Chamelophyton'', ''Condylago'', ''Draconanthes'', ''Dracula (plant), Dracula'', ''Dresslerella'', ''Dryadella'', ''Echinosepala'', ''Frondaria'', ''Jostia'', ''Lepanthes'', ''Lepanthopsis'', ''Luerella'', ''Masdevallia'', ''Myoxanthus'', ''Octomeria'', ''Ophidion (plant), Ophidion'', ''Pabstiella'', ''Phloeophila'', ''Platystele'', ''Pleurothallis'', ''Porroglossum'', ''Restrepia'', ''Restrepiella'', ''Salpistele'', ''Scaphosepalum'', ''Specklinia'', ''Stelis'', ''Teagueia'', ''Trichosalpinx'', ''Trisetella'', ''Zootrophion''

Tribe Epipogieae

*Genera: ''Epipogium'', ''Stereosandra''

Tribe
Gastrodieae Gastrodieae is an orchid tribe in the subfamily Epidendroideae. Genera Genera included in Chase et al.'s 2015 classification of orchids: * ''Auxopus ''Auxopus'' is a genus of the family Orchidaceae. It belongs to the tribe Gastrodieae. Litt ...

*Subtribe Gastrodiinae **Genera: ''Didymoplexis'', ''Gastrodia'' *Subtribe Nerviliinae **Genus: ''Nervilia'' *Subtribe Rhizanthellinae (sometimes in Diurideae) **Genera: ''Cryptanthemis'', ''Rhizanthella''

Tribe Malaxideae

Over 900 species *Genera: ''Liparis (plant), Liparis'', ''Malaxis''

Tribe Neottieae

About 100 species *Subtribe Limodorinae **Genera: Aphyllorchis, ''Cephalanthera'', ''Epipactis'', Limodorum *Subtribe Listerinae **Genus: ''Listera''

Tribe Podochileae

*Subtribe Bulbophyllinae (according to Garay & al. 1994) **Genera: ''Acrochaene'' Lindl., ''Bulbophyllum'' Thouars, ''Chaseella'' Summerhays, ''Cirrhopetalum'' Lindl., ''Codonosiphon'' Schl., ''Drymoda'' Lindl., ''Epicrianthes'' Blume, ''Ferruminaria'' Garay, Hamer & Siegerist,'' Hapalochilus'' (Schlechter) Senghas, ''Ione (plant), Ione'' Lindl., ''Mastigion'' Garay, Hamer & Siegerist ,'' Monomeria'' Lindl., ''Monosepalum'' Schle, ''Osyricera'' Blume, ''Pedilochilus'' Schl., ''Rhytionanthos'' Garay, Hamer & Siegerist, ''Saccoglossum'' Schl., ''Sunipia'' Lindl., ''Synarmosepalum'' Garay, Hamer & Siegerist, ''Tapeinoglossum'' Schl., ''Trias (plant), Trias'' Lindl.,'' Vesicisepalum'' Garay, Hamer & Siegerist Dendrobium nobile Orchi 007

*Subtribe Dendrobiinae **Genera: ''Cadetia'', ''Dendrobium'', ''Diplocaulobium'', ''Epigeneium'', ''Flickingeria'', ''Pseuderia'' *Subtribe Eriinae **Alliance Eria ***Genera: ''Eria'', ''Trichotosia'' **Alliance Ceratostylis ***Genera: ''Appendicula'', ''Ceratostylis'', ''Epiblastus'', ''Sarcostoma'' *Subtribe Podochilinae **Genera: ''Chilopogon'', ''Podochilus'' *Subtribe Thelasiinae **Genera: ''Phreatia'', ''Rhynchophreatia''

Tribe Triphoreae

A primitive tribe consisting of three genera and twenty species recently assigned to Epidendroideae. *Genera: ''Monophyllorchis'', ''Psilochilus'', ''Triphora (plant), Triphora''

Tribe Tropidieae

Formerly placed in the subfamily Spiranthoideae *Genera: ''Corymborkis'', ''Tropidia (plant), Tropidia''

Tribe Xerorchideae

*Genus: ''Xerorchis''

Subfamily Higher Epidendroideae

Formerly called Vandoideae, this is the second largest subfamily with over 300 genera in more than 5,000 species. They are mostly epiphytes, but include some terrestrials and myco-heterotrophs, all occurring in most tropical areas. The main stem grows in a single direction. Many of the species develop pseudobulbs (i.e. a bulge at the base of a stem), that are normally shorter and sturdier than those in the epidendroids. The striking characteristics of the vandoids are a cellular pollinium stalk (= stipe), superposed pollinia and the unique development of the incumbent anther, that bends early in development.

Tribe Cymbidieae

About 1,800 species in 100 to 130 genera. Species are either terrestrial or epiphytic, and range throughout global tropical regions. All species have, as a unique feature, a sympodial growth habit and two pollinia. *Subtribe Acriopsidinae: less than 50 species. **Genus: ''Acriopsis'' *Subtribe Catasetinae: about 150 species; epiphytes occurring in the Western Hemisphere. **Genera: ''Catasetum'', ''Cycnoches'', ''Mormodes'' *Subtribe Cyrtopodiinae: over 400 species, usually terrestrial; Asia, Africa, and tropical America. **Alliance Bromheadia ***Genus: ''Bromheadia'' **Alliance Eulophia ***Genus: ''Eulophia'' **Alliance Cyrtopodium ***Genera: ''Cymbidiella'', ''Cyrtopodium'', ''Galeandra'' **Alliance Cymbidium ***Genera: ''Ansellia'', ''Cymbidium'', ''Grammatophyllum'' **Alliance Dipodium ***Genus: ''Dipodium'' **Alliance hybrids ***Genera: × Bifrenidium, × ''Bifrenidium'', × Cymphiella, × ''Cymphiella'', × Cyrtellia, × ''Cyrtellia'', × Eulocymbidiella, × ''Eulocymbidiella'', × Galeansellia, × ''Galeansellia'', × Graphiella, × ''Graphiella'' *Subtribe

: Largest subtribe with nearly 1,000 species within about 56 to 78 genera, found in tropical America, the Caribbean and Florida. Most are epiphytes, but a few are terrestrials. They usually have short and stout pseudobulbs. **Alliance Oncidium: largest alliance; includes the majority of genera in cultivation. ***Genera: ''Ada (plant), Ada'', ''Aspasia (plant), Aspasia'', ''Brassia'', ''Cochlioda'', ''Miltonia'', ''Miltoniopsis'', ''Odontoglossum'', ''Oncidium'' (most) **Alliance Trichocentrum ***Genus: ''Trichocentrum'' **Alliance Comparettia ***Genera: ''Oncidium'' (Glossary of botanical terms#equitant, equitants only), ''Comparettia'', ''Rodriguezia'' **Alliance Trichophilia ***Genera: ''Notylia'', ''Psychopsis'', ''Trichopilia'' **Alliance Lockhartia ***Genus: ''Lockhartia'' **Alliance hybrids: over 107 hybrid genera. ***Genera: × Aliceara, × ''Aliceara'', × Bakerara, × ''Bakerara'', × Beallara, × ''Beallara'', × Brassidium, × ''Brassidium'', × Burrageara, × ''Burrageara'', × Colmanara, × ''Colmanara'', × Degarmoara, × ''Degarmoara'', × Howeara, × ''Howeara'', × Maclellanara, × ''Maclellanara'', × Miltassia, × ''Miltassia'', × Miltonidium, × ''Miltonidium'', × Odontobrassia, × ''Odontobrassia'', × Odontocidium, × ''Odontocidium'', × Odontonia, × ''Odontonia'', × Rodricidium, × ''Rodricidium'', × Trichocidium, × ''Trichocidium'', × Vuylstekeara, × ''Vuylstekeara'', × Wilsonara, × ''Wilsonara'' *Subtribe Pachyphyllinae: less than 50 species. **Genus: ''Pachyphyllum'' *Subtribe Thecostelinae: less than 50 species. **Genus: ''Thecostele''

Tribe
Vandeae The Vandeae is a large monophyletic tribe within the family of orchids. Scope This tribe contains 1,700 - 2,000 species in more than 150 genera. Epiphytic These orchids are pantropical epiphytes and occur in tropical Asia, the Pacific Island ...

Over 1,700 species in more than 130 genera; occurs in tropical Asia, Pacific Islands, tropical America, Australia, and Africa. *Subtribe Aerangidinae: about 300 species in 36 genera; tropical Africa and Madagascar. **Genera: ''Aerangis'', ''Ancistrorhynchus'', ''Angraecopsis'', ''Beclardia'', ''Bolusiella'', ''Chamaeangis'', ''Cribbia'', ''Cyrtorchis'', ''Diaphananthe'', ''Eurychone'', ''Listrostachys'', ''Microcoelia (plant), Microcoelia'', '' Microterangis'', ''Mystacidium'', ''Podangis'', ''Rangaeris'', ''Rhipidoglossum'', ''Solenangis'', ''Sphyrarhynchus'', ''Tridactyle'', ''Ypsilopus'' *Subtribe Aeridinae (formerly Sarcanthinae): more than 1,000 species in 103 genera, including about 200 hybrid species; occurs mostly in Asia with a few in Africa. **Alliance Phalaenopsis ***Genera: ''Aerides'', ''Chiloschista'', ''Doritis'', ''Phalaenopsis'', ''Paraphalaenopsis'', ''Rhynchostylis'', ''Sarcochilus'' **Alliance Vanda ***Genera: ''Adenoncos'', ''Arachnis (plant), Arachnis'', ''Ascocentrum'', ''Ascoglossum'', ''Euanthe sanderiana, Euanthe'', ''Luisia'', ''Renanthera'', ''Vanda'', ''Vandopsis'' **Alliance Trichoglottis ***Genera: ''Abdominea'', ''Acampe'', ''Amesiella'', ''Cleisostoma'', ''Gastrochilus'', ''Neofinetia'', ''Robiquetia'', ''Trichoglottis'' **Hybrids ***Genera: × Aeridovanda, × ''Aeridovanda'', × Aranda, × ''Aranda'', × Ascocenda, × ''Ascocenda'', × Ascofinetia, × ''Ascofinetia'', × Asconopsis, × ''Asconopsis'', × Christieara, × ''Christieara'', × Doritaenopsis, × ''Doritaenopsis'', × Opsistylis, × ''Opsistylis'', × Perreiraara, × ''Perreiraara'', × Renanstylis, × ''Renanstylis'', × Renantanda, × ''Renantanda'', × Renanthopsis, × ''Renanthopsis'', × Rhynchovanda, × ''Rhynchovanda'', × Vandaenopsis, × ''Vandaenopsis'', × Vascostylis, × ''Vascostylis'' *Subtribe Angraecinae: about 400 species in 19 genera, tropical Africa and Madagascar. **Alliance Angraecum ***Genera: ''Aeranthes'', ''Angraecum'', ''Bonniera'', ''Calyptrochilum'', ''Cryptopus (plant), Cryptopus'', ''Jumellea'', ''Lemurella'', ''Lemurorchis'', ''Neobathiea'', ''Oeonia'', ''Oeoniella'', ''Sobennikoffia'' **Alliance Campylocentrum ***Genera: ''Campylocentrum'', ''Dendrophylax'' *Subtribe Polystachyinae (formerly part of the Epidendreae): about 220 species in four genera. They all show four pollinia. The lip often has mealy hairs called pseudopollen on the upper surface. **Genera: ''

'', ''Imerinaea'', ''Neobenthamia'', ''Polystachya''

Tribe Maxillarieae

70 to 80 genera with about 1,000 species; most grow in tropical America as terrestrials or epiphytes, a few are myco-heterotrophs. Most show pseudobulbs, but a few have reedlike stems or thick underground stems. Blooms have four pollinia. *Subtribe Bifrenariinae: thin and pleated leaves. **Genera: ''Bifrenaria'', ''Xylobium'' *Subtribe Corallorhizinae: all myco-heterotrophs **Genera: ''Aplectrum'', ''Corallorhiza'' *Subtribe Dichaeinae **Genus: ''Dichaea'' *Subtribe Lycastinae: thin and pleated leaves. **Genera: ''Anguloa'', ''Bifrenaria'', ''Lycaste'', ''Neomoorea'', '' Ciripedium'' ''Rudolfiella'', ''Teuscheria'', ''Xylobium'' *Subtribe Maxillariinae: largest subtribe with nearly half of the tribe species. The leathery leaves are conduplicate, i.e. folded together lengthwise. **Genera: ''Chrysocycnis'', ''Cyrtidium'', ''Maxillaria'', ''Mormolyca'', ''Pityphyllum'', ''Scuticaria (plant), Scuticaria'', ''Sepalosaccus'', ''Trigonidium (plant), Trigonidium'' *Subtribe: Ornithocephalinae **Genera: ''Ornithocephalus (plant), Ornithocephalus'', ''Zygostates'' *Subtribe Stanhopeinae: about 200 species; epiphytes found in the Western Hemisphere. **Genera: ''Acineta'', ''Braemia'', ''Cirrhaea'', ''Coryanthes'', ''Embreea'', ''Gongora'', ''Horichia'', ''Houlletia'', ''Jennyella'', ''Kegeliella'', ''Lacaena'', ''Lueddemannia'', ''Paphinia'', ''Polycycnis'', ''Schlimia'', ''Sievekingia'', ''Soterosanthus'', ''Stanhopea'', ''Trevoria'', ''Vasqueziella'' *Subtribe Coeliopsidinae **Genera: ''Coeliopsis'', ''Lycomormium'', ''Peristeria (plant), Peristeria'' *Subtribe Telipogoninae **Genera: ''Dipterostele'', ''Hofmeisterella'', ''Stellilabium'', ''Telipogon'', ''Trichoceros'' *Subtribe Zygopetilinae: about 150 species. **Alliance Warrea ***Genera: ''Otostylis'', ''Warrea'' **Alliance Zygopetalum ***Genera: ''Aganisia'', ''Batemannia'', ''Pescatoria, Bollea'', ''Cheiradenia'', ''Chondrorhyncha'', ''Cochleanthes'', ''Colax'', ''Pabstia'', ''Promenaea'', ''Zygopetalum'' **Alliance Bollea ***Genera: ''Pescatoria, Bollea'', ''Chondrorhyncha'', ''Cochleanthes'', ''Huntleya'', ''Kefersteinia (plant), Kefersteinia'', ''Pescatoria'', ''Stenia'' **Alliance Vargasiella ***Genus: ''Vargasiella'' **Alliance hybrids: of the 43 hybrids in this tribe, only × ''Angulocaste'' is displayed frequently. ***Genera: ''Aitkenara'', ''Bateostylis'', ''Bollopetalum'', ''Chondrobollea'', ''Cochella'', ''Cochlecaste'', ''Cochlenia'', ''Cochlepetalum'', ''Downsara'', ''Durutyara'', ''Hamelwellsara'', ''Huntleanthes'', ''Kanzerara'', ''Keferanthes'', ''Lancebirkara'', ''Otocolax'', ''Otonisia'', ''Palmerara'', ''Rotorara'', ''Zygocaste'', ''Zygolum'', ''Zygonisia'', ''Zygostylis''

Subfamily
Orchidoideae The Orchidoideae, or the orchidoid orchids, are a subfamily of the orchid family (Orchidaceae) that contains around 3630 species. Species typically have a single ( monandrous), fertile anther which is erect and basitonic. Description The subf ...

Tribe Diceratosteleae

*Genus: ''Diceratostele''

Tribe Codonorchideae

*Genus: ''Codonorchis''

Tribe Cranichideae

The former subfamily Spiranthoideae is now embedded in the clade Orchidoideae as the tribe Cranichideae (Dressler, 1993). It includes 95 genera and about 1100 species. Species of this polyphyletic tribe occur in all continents (except Antarctica), but mainly in North America, North and South America and tropical Asia. All subtribes are monophyletic. *Subtribe Cranichidinae: occurring in the Neotropics **Genera: ''Altensteinia'', ''Baskervilla'', ''Cranichis'', ''Exalaria'', ''Fuertesiella'', ''Myrosmodes'', ''Nothostele'', ''Ponthieva'', ''Pseudocentrum'', ''Pseudocranichis'', ''Pterichis'', ''Solenocentrum'' *Subtribe Prescottiinae: occurs in the Neotropics **Genera: ''Aa (plant), Aa'', ''Gomphichis'', ''Porphyrostachys'', ''Prescottia (plant), Prescottia'', ''Stenoptera'' *Subtribe Galeottiellinae **Genus: ''Galeottiella'' *Subtribe

: 37 genera, about 630 species in Africa, the Americas and Asia. **Genera: ''Aenhenrya'', ''Anoectochilus'', ''Aspidogyne'', ''Chamaegastrodia'', ''Cheirostylis'', ''Cystorchis'', ''Danhatchia'', ''Dassinia'', ''Erythrodes'', ''Eurycentrum'', ''Gonatostylis'', ''Goodyera'', ''Halleorchis'', ''Herpysma'', ''Hetaeria'', ''Hylophila'', ''Kreodanthus'', ''Kuhlhasseltia'', ''Lepidogyne'', ''Lageophila'', ''Ludisia'', ''Macodes'', ''Meliorchis'' (extinct), ''Microchilus'', ''Myrmechis'', ''Odontochilus'', ''Orchipedum (plant), Orchipedum'', ''Pachyplectron'', ''Papuaea'', ''Platylepis'', ''Platythelys'', ''Rhamphorhynchus (plant), Rhamphorhynchus'', ''Rhomboda'', ''Stephanothelys'', ''Vrydagzynea'', ''Zeuxine'' *Subtribe Manniellinae: tropical Africa **Genus: ''Manniella'' *Subtribe Pterostylidinae **Genera: ''Achlydosa'', ''Pterostylis'' Spiranthes cernua NRCS-001

*Subtribe Spiranthinae: about 30 genera; largely terrestrial; widespread, but absent in sub-Saharan Africa; fascicled roots, dorsal erect anther, inconspicuous staminodia, resupination#Orchidaceae, resupinate flowers. **Genera: ''Aracamunia'', ''Aulosepalum'', ''Beloglottis'', ''Brachystele'', ''Buchtienia'', ''Coccineorchis'', ''Cotylolabium'', ''Cybebus'', ''Degranvillea'', ''Deiregyne'', ''Dichromanthus'', ''Discyphus'', ''Eltroplectris'', ''Eurystyles'', ''Funkiella'', ''Hapalorchis'', ''Helonoma'', ''Kionophyton'', ''Lankesterella'', ''Lyroglossa'', ''Mesadenella'', ''Mesadenus'', ''Microthelys'', ''Odontorrhynchus'', ''Pelexia'', ''Physogyne'', ''Pseudogoodyera'', ''Pteroglossa'', ''Sacoila'', ''Sarcoglottis'', ''Sauroglossum'', ''Schiedeella'', ''Skeptrostachys'', ''Spiranthes'', ''Stalkya'', ''Svenkoeltzia'', ''Thelyschista'', ''Veyretia'', ''Wallnoeferia'' *Subtribe Stenorrhynchidinae **Genus: ''Stenorrhynchos'' *Subtribe Cyclopogoninae **Genus: ''Cyclopogon''

Tribe Diseae

*Subtribe Brownleeinae **Genus: ''Brownleea'' *Subtribe Coryciinae **Genera: ''Ceratandra'', ''Corycium'', ''Disperis'', ''Evotella'', ''Pterygodium'' *Subtribe Disinae **Genera: ''Disa (plant), Disa'', ''Schizodium'' *Subtribe Huttonaeinae **Genus: ''Huttonaea'' *Subtribe Satyriinae **Genera: ''

'', ''Satyrium (plant), Satyrium''

Tribe Diurideae

About 550 species in 39 genera; mainly Australasia. *Subtribe Acianthinae **Genera: ''Acianthus'', ''Corybas (plant), Corybas'', ''Cyrtostylis'', ''Stigmatodactylus'', ''Townsonia'' *Subtribe Caladeniinae **Genera: ''Adenochilus'', ''Aporostylis'', ''Caladenia'', ''Cyanicula'', ''Elythranthera'', ''Ericksonella'', ''Eriochilus'', ''Glossodia'', ''Leptoceras'', ''Pheladenia'', ''Praecoxanthus'' *Subtribe Chloraeinae: From South America and New Caledonia (Megastylis) **Genera: ''Bipinnula'', ''Chloraea'', ''Gavilea'', ''Geoblasta'', ''Megastylis'' *Subtribe Cryptostylidinae **Genera: ''Coilochilus'', ''Cryptostylis'' *Subtribe Diuridinae **Genera: ''Diuris'', ''Orthoceras (plant), Orthoceras'' *Subtribe Drakaeinae **Genera: ''Arthrochilus'', ''Calaena'', ''Chiloglottis'', ''Drakaea'', ''Myrmechila'', ''Spiculaea'' *Subtribe Megastylidinae **Genera: ''Burnettia'', ''Leporella'', ''Lyperanthus'', ''Megastylis'', ''Pyrorchis'', ''Rimacola'', ''Waireia'' *Subtribe Prasophyllinae **Genera: ''Genoplesium'', ''Microtis (plant), Microtis'', ''Prasophyllum'' *Subtribe Pterostylidinae *Subtribe Thelymitrinae **Genera: ''Calochilus'', ''Epiblema (plant), Epiblema'', ''Thelymitra''

Tribe
Orchideae Orchideae is a tribe of orchids in the subfamily Orchidoideae. Historically, it was divided into 2 subtribes, Orchidinae and Habenariinae. The subtribe Orchidinae alone contains about 1,800 species. However, although some phylogenetic studies ha ...

This is the largest tribe, containing more than 1,700 species. It has been divided into two subtribes, Orchidinae and Habenariinae. However, the generic boundaries are unclear, and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic studies show that many genera are Paraphyly, paraphyletic or even Polyphyly, polyphyletic, so a clear assignment of genera to subtribes is currently not possible. Platanthera leucophaea

*Genera: ''Aceratorchis'', ''Amerorchis'', ''Anacamptis'', ''Bartholina'', ''Benthamia'', ''Bonatea (plant), Bonatea'', ''Brachycorythis'', ''Centrostigma'', ''Chamorchis'', ''Chondradenia'', ''Cynorchis'', ''Dactylorhiza'', ''Diphylax'', ''Diplomeris'', ''Dracomonticola'', ''Galearis'', ''Gennaria'', ''Gymnadenia'', ''Habenaria'', ''Hemipilia'', ''Herminium'', ''Himantoglossum'', '' Holothrix'', ''Megalorchis'', ''Neobolusia'', ''Neotinea'', ''Oligophyton'', ''Ophrys'', ''Orchis'', ''Pecteilis'', ''Peristylus'', ''Physoceras'', ''Platanthera'', ''Platycoryne'', ''Ponerorchis'', ''Pseudorchis'', ''Roeperocharis'', ''Schizochilus'', ''Serapias'', ''Stenoglottis'', ''Steveniella'', ''Symphyosepalum'', ''Thulinia'', ''Traunsteinera'', ''Tylostigma'', ''Veyretella''

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 ...

Tribe Pogonieae

*Genera: ''Cleistes'', ''Duckeella'', ''Isotria'', ''Pogonia (plant), Pogonia'', ''Pogoniopsis''

Tribe Vanilleae

*Genera: ''Clematepistephium'', ''Cyrtosia (plant), Cyrtosia'', ''Dictyophyllaria'', ''Epistephium'', ''Eriaxis'', ''Erythrorchis'', ''Galeola'', ''Lecanorchis'', ''Pseudovanilla'', ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla''

References

Bibliography

*WCSP (2012). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet
WCSP Online
*Chase, M. W. 2005. ''Classification of Orchidaceae in the age of DNA data''. Curtis's Bot. Mag. 22(1): 2–7.
History of the taxonomy of orchidsOrchid Tree: a phylogeny of epiphytes (mostly) on the Tree of Life

External links

page 939volume 2''Species Plantarum'' first edition (1753)Titles by Carl von Linné (1707-1778)AuthorsBiodiversity Heritage Library

Orchideae page 64View BookAntonii Laurentii de Jussieu Genera plantarumJussieu, Antoine Laurent de, 1748-1836AuthorsBHL

View BookDe Orchideis Europaeis annotationesTitles by Louis Claude RichardauthorsBHL

View BookThe Genera and Species of Orchidaceous PlantsTitlesBHL

page 288volume 18''The Journal of the Linnean Society. Botany''titlesBHL

orchids, page 460View Book''Genera Plantarum'' (Bentham & Hooker, 1883) volume 3, part 2titlesBHL

Afhandling om Orchidernes Slägter och deras Systematiska indelningGDZ

''The Orchids: Natural History and Classification'' (1981)

rbcL phylogeny of Orchidaceae (1999)

DNA data and Orchidaceae Systematics: A new Phylogenetic Classification by Mark W. Chase, Kenneth M.Cameron, Russell L. Barrett, John V. Freudenstein (2003)

An updated classification of Orchidaceae (2015)Botanical Journal of the Linnean SocietyWiley Online Library

OrchidaceaeangiospermsBrowseThe Plant List

APG III

genus listMissouri Botanical Garden

External links

* * {{Taxonomy of... Orchid taxonomy, Plant taxonomies, Orchidaceae

History

Taxonomy

Subfamily Apostasioideae Apostasioideae is one of the five subfamilies recognised within the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Only two genera, '' Neuwiedia'' and ''Apostasia'', and 15 species, are recognised within the Apostasioideae in contrast to the other orchid subfamili ...

Subfamily Cypripedioideae Cypripedioideae is a subfamily of orchids commonly known as lady's slipper orchids, lady slipper orchids or slipper orchids. Cypripedioideae includes the genera ''Cypripedium, Mexipedium, Paphiopedilum, Phragmipedium'' and ''Selenipedium''. The ...

Tribe Cypripedieae

Tribe Mexipedieae

Tribe Phragmipedieae

Tribe Selenipedieae

Others

Subfamily Epidendroideae Epidendroideae is a subfamily of plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Epidendroideae is larger than all the other orchid subfamilies together, comprising more than 15,000 species in 576 genera. Most epidendroid orchids are tropical epiphytes ...

Tribe Arethuseae

Tribe Calypsoeae

Tribe Cryptarrheneae

Tribe Coelogyneae

Tribe Epidendreae

Tribe Epipogieae

Tribe Gastrodieae Gastrodieae is an orchid tribe in the subfamily Epidendroideae. Genera Genera included in Chase et al.'s 2015 classification of orchids: * ''Auxopus ''Auxopus'' is a genus of the family Orchidaceae. It belongs to the tribe Gastrodieae. Litt ...

Tribe Malaxideae

Tribe Neottieae

Tribe Podochileae

Tribe Triphoreae

Tribe Tropidieae

Tribe Xerorchideae

Subfamily Higher Epidendroideae

Tribe Cymbidieae

Tribe Vandeae The Vandeae is a large monophyletic tribe within the family of orchids. Scope This tribe contains 1,700 - 2,000 species in more than 150 genera. Epiphytic These orchids are pantropical epiphytes and occur in tropical Asia, the Pacific Island ...

Tribe Maxillarieae

Subfamily Orchidoideae The Orchidoideae, or the orchidoid orchids, are a subfamily of the orchid family (Orchidaceae) that contains around 3630 species. Species typically have a single ( monandrous), fertile anther which is erect and basitonic. Description The subf ...

Tribe Diceratosteleae

Tribe Codonorchideae

Tribe Cranichideae

Tribe Diseae

Tribe Diurideae

Tribe Orchideae Orchideae is a tribe of orchids in the subfamily Orchidoideae. Historically, it was divided into 2 subtribes, Orchidinae and Habenariinae. The subtribe Orchidinae alone contains about 1,800 species. However, although some phylogenetic studies ha ...

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 ...

Tribe Pogonieae

Tribe Vanilleae

References

Bibliography

External links

External links

Subfamily
Apostasioideae Apostasioideae is one of the five subfamilies recognised within the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Only two genera, '' Neuwiedia'' and ''Apostasia'', and 15 species, are recognised within the Apostasioideae in contrast to the other orchid subfamili ...

Subfamily
Cypripedioideae Cypripedioideae is a subfamily of orchids commonly known as lady's slipper orchids, lady slipper orchids or slipper orchids. Cypripedioideae includes the genera ''Cypripedium, Mexipedium, Paphiopedilum, Phragmipedium'' and ''Selenipedium''. The ...

Subfamily
Epidendroideae Epidendroideae is a subfamily of plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Epidendroideae is larger than all the other orchid subfamilies together, comprising more than 15,000 species in 576 genera. Most epidendroid orchids are tropical epiphytes ...

Tribe
Gastrodieae Gastrodieae is an orchid tribe in the subfamily Epidendroideae. Genera Genera included in Chase et al.'s 2015 classification of orchids: * ''Auxopus ''Auxopus'' is a genus of the family Orchidaceae. It belongs to the tribe Gastrodieae. Litt ...

Tribe
Vandeae The Vandeae is a large monophyletic tribe within the family of orchids. Scope This tribe contains 1,700 - 2,000 species in more than 150 genera. Epiphytic These orchids are pantropical epiphytes and occur in tropical Asia, the Pacific Island ...

Subfamily
Orchidoideae The Orchidoideae, or the orchidoid orchids, are a subfamily of the orchid family (Orchidaceae) that contains around 3630 species. Species typically have a single ( monandrous), fertile anther which is erect and basitonic. Description The subf ...

Tribe
Orchideae Orchideae is a tribe of orchids in the subfamily Orchidoideae. Historically, it was divided into 2 subtribes, Orchidinae and Habenariinae. The subtribe Orchidinae alone contains about 1,800 species. However, although some phylogenetic studies ha ...

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 ...