Vanilloideae is one of the subfamilies of orchids belonging to the large 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 ...

. Lindley (1836) and Garay (1986)Garay,L. (1986), Olim Vanillaceae. Botanical Museum Leaflets. Harvard University 30 : 233-237. treated it as a separate family, Vanillaceae. But their single, incumbent

anther 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 filam ...

and poorly organised

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 ...

led to their recognition as at best a subgroup of

monandrous In botanical terms, monandrous simply means to have a single stamen. In orchids A distinction between monandrous and other flowers is particularly relevant in the classification of orchids. The monandrous orchids form a clade consisting of the s ...

orchids. From a molecular point of view, this

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

is rather a sister to 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 ...

and 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 ...

in the Orchidaceae, and thus it is today also considered a subfamily. The subfamily Vanilloideae consists of 15 genera and about 180 species, belonging to the tribes Pogonieae and Vanilleae. Their distribution is pantropical, throughout Asia, Australia and the Americas. The species in the tribe Pogonieae have a characteristic laciniate lip margin. The color of their

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s and

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 is pink or rarely white or bluish. Their sepals have an oblong, elliptic, or narrowly lanceolate form. The species in the tribe Vanilleae are long plants characterized by long, thick, succulent

vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

s and a lip without spur.

Classification

Tribe

Pogonieae Pogonieae is an orchid tribe in the subfamily Vanilloideae. Genera Genera included in Pogonieae: * '' Cleistes'' * '' Cleistesiopsis'' * ''Duckeella ''Duckeella'' is a genus of orchids (family Orchidaceae), belonging to the subfamily Vanilloi ...

(77 species) * Genera : '' Cleistes'', '' Cleistesiopsis'', ''

Duckeella ''Duckeella'' is a genus of orchids (family Orchidaceae), belonging to the subfamily Vanilloideae. It has 3 known species, all native to South America: The genus name of ''Duckesia'' is in honour of Adolpho Ducke (1876–1959), an entomologist, b ...

'', '' Isotria'', and '' Pogonia'' Tribe

Vanilleae Vanilleae is an orchid tribe of 9 genera in the subfamily Vanilloideae. Classification Tribe Vanilleae :Genus '' Clematepistephium'' (1 species) (Endemic to New Caledonia) :*''Clematepistephium smilacifolium'' :Genus '' Cyrtosia'' (5 species ...

(172 species) * Genera : ''

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 ...

'', '' Cyrtosia'', ''

Epistephium ''Epistephium'' is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It is native to South America, with a few species in Belize and Trinidad. #'' Epistephium amabile'' Schltr. #'' Epistephium amplexicaule'' Poepp. & Endl. #'' Epi ...

'', '' Eriaxis'', ''

Erythrorchis ''Erythrorchis'', commonly known as bootlace orchids or as 倒吊兰属 (dao diao lan shu), is a genus of two species of climbing, leafless orchids in the family Orchidaceae. Orchids in this genus are climbing or scrambling vines that cling by s ...

'', ''

Galeola ''Galeola'' is a genus of orchids (family Orchidaceae) belonging to the subfamily Vanilloideae. All species in this genus are myco-heterotrophic, i.e. they are parasitic upon fungi. The genus is spread throughout southeast Asia (from India to ...

'', ''

Lecanorchis ''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, ...

'', ''

Pseudovanilla ''Pseudovanilla'', commonly known as giant climbing orchids, is a genus of eight climbing orchids in the family Orchidaceae. Orchids in this genus have tall climbing stems with clinging roots, leaf-like bracts and branching flowering stems with ...

'' and ''Vanilla''.

References

* Pridgeon, Alec M.; Cribb, Phillip J.; Chase, Mark.W; Rasmussen, Finn.N - ''Genera Orchidacearum: Orchidoideae Vanilloideae'' - Oxford University Press 2003 - {{taxonbar, from=Q133360 Asparagales subfamilies