''Pholidota'', commonly known as rattlesnake orchids, is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...

s from 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 flowerin ...

. Plants in this genus are clump-forming

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

s or lithophytes 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, each with a single large leaf and a large number of small, whitish flowers arranged in two ranks along a thin, wiry flowering stem that emerges from the top of the pseudobulb. There are about thirty five species native to areas from

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 ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

to the southwestern

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

Description

Orchids in the genus ''Pholidota'' are

sympodial Sympodial growth is a bifurcating branching pattern where one branch develops more strongly than the other, resulting in the stronger branches forming the primary shoot and the weaker branches appearing laterally. A sympodium, also referred to a ...

epiphytic, lithophytic or, rarely,

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

herbs In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...

with pseudobulbs, each with one or two large, stalked leathery leaves. A large number of small flowers are arranged in two ranks along a thin, wiry flowering stem that emerges from the top of the pseudobulb. There is a large, papery

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 o ...

at the base of each flower. The flowers are white, cream-coloured, yellowish or pinkish with a concave

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal c ...

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 ...

and smaller

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

s. The labellum is rigidly fixed to the base of the

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...

and there is a deep sac-like structure at its base.

Distribution

Orchids in the genus ''Pholidota'' are found in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

, the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist s ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, the

Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of the Indian ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and e ...

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

, the

Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up ...

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...

, the

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...

, 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 ...

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu ...

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

, the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

, the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

Queensland (Australia) ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

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 ...

, the

Santa Cruz Islands The Santa Cruz Islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Temotu Province of the nation of Solomon Islands discovered by the Spaniards. They lie approximately 250 miles (400 km) to the southeast of the Solomon Islands ...

and

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of ...

Taxonomy and naming

The genus ''Pholidota'' was first formally described in 1825 by

John Lindley 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 w ...

who published the description in Hooker's ''Exotic Flora, Containing Figures and Descriptions of New, Rare or Otherwise Interesting Exotic Plants''. The name ''Pholidota'' is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

word ''pholidotos'' meaning "clad in scales", referring to the large bracts at the base of the flower in some species.

Species list

The following is a list of ''Pholidota'' species accepted by 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 ...

as at January 2019: * '' Pholidota advena'' (C.S.P.Parish & Rchb.f.) Hook.f. - Myanmar * '' Pholidota aidiolepis'' Seidenf. & de Vogel - Thailand * '' Pholidota articulata'' Lindl. - Guizhou, Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan, Assam, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam * '' Pholidota camelostalix'' Rchb.f. - Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Timor, Flores ** ''Pholidota camelostalix'' var. ''camelostalix'' ** ''Pholidota camelostalix'' var. ''vaginata'' (Carr) de Vogel * '' Pholidota cantonensis'' Rolfe - Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Taiwan, Zhejiang. * '' Pholidota carnea'' (Blume) Lindl. - Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, New Guinea, Bismarcks ** ''Pholidota carnea'' var. ''carnea'' ** ''Pholidota carnea'' var. ''parviflora'' (Hook.f.) de Vogel ** ''Pholidota carnea'' var. ''pumila'' (Ridl.) de Vogel * ''

Pholidota chinensis Pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, are mammals of the order Pholidota (, from Ancient Greek wikt:ϕολιδωτός, ϕολιδωτός – "clad in scales"). The one Neontology, extant family, the Manidae, has three genera: ''Mani ...

'' Lindl. - Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Tibet, Yunnan, Zhejiang, Myanmar, Vietnam * '' Pholidota clemensii'' Ames - Borneo * '' Pholidota convallariae'' (C.S.P.Parish & Rchb.f.) Hook.f. - Yunnan, Assam, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Java, Sumatra * '' Pholidota corniculata'' Pfitzer & Kraenzl. in H.G.A.Engler - Assam * '' Pholidota cyclopetala'' Kraenzl. in H.G.A.Engler - Sumatra * '' Pholidota gibbosa'' (Blume) Lindl. ex de Vriese - Solomons and much of Indonesia * '' Pholidota globosa'' (Blume) Lindl. - Sumatra, Java, Bali * '' Pholidota guibertiae'' Finet - Vietnam * '' Pholidota imbricata'' Lindl. in W.J.Hooker - widespread from Tibet to Queensland and New Caledonia * '' Pholidota katakiana'' Phukan - Arunachal Pradesh * '' Pholidota leveilleana'' Schltr. - Vietnam, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan * '' Pholidota longibulba'' Holttum - Peninsular Malaysia * '' Pholidota longilabra'' de Vogel - Sumatra * '' Pholidota longipes'' S.C.Chen & Z.H.Tsi - Yunnan * '' Pholidota mediocris'' de Vogel - Borneo * '' Pholidota missionariorum'' Gagnep. - Bhutan, eastern India, Myanmar, Vietnam * '' Pholidota nervosa'' (Blume) Rchb.f. - Sumatra, Java * '' Pholidota niana'' Y.T.Liu, R.Li & C.L.Long - Yunnan * '' Pholidota pachyglossa'' Aver. - Vietnam * '' Pholidota pallida'' Lindl. - Yunnan, Bhutan, Assam, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia * '' Pholidota pectinata'' Ames - Borneo * '' Pholidota pholas'' Rchb.f. in W.G.Walpers - southeastern China * '' Pholidota protracta'' Hook.f. - Yunnan, Nepal, Assam, Bhutan, Myanmar * '' Pholidota pygmaea'' H.J.Chowdhery & G.D.Pal - Arunachal Pradesh * '' Pholidota pyrranthela'' Gagnep. - Vietnam * '' Pholidota recurva'' Lindl. - Yunnan, Bhutan, Assam, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam * '' Pholidota roseans'' Schltr. - Guizhou, Vietnam * '' Pholidota rubra'' Lindl. - Sikkim, Bhutan, Assam, Vietnam * '' Pholidota schweinfurthiana'' L.O.Williams - Borneo * '' Pholidota sigmatochilus'' J.J.Sm. - Sabah * '' Pholidota sulcata'' J.J.Sm. - Borneo * '' Pholidota ventricosa'' (Blume) Rchb.f. - Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, New Guinea * '' Pholidota wattii'' King & Pantl. - Assam * '' Pholidota yongii'' J.J.Wood * '' Pholidota yunnanensis'' Rolfe - Vietnam, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan

References

External links

*
''Pholidota'' photo in nature
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1300407 Coelogyninae Arethuseae genera