''Aphyllorchis'', commonly known as pauper orchids or as 無葉蘭屬/无叶兰属 (wu ye lan shu), is a genus of about twenty species of terrestrial leafless

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. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

s in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Orchidaceae. Orchids in this genus have fleshy, upright stems and small to medium-sized resupinate flowers with narrow

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 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s and

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s. They are native to a region extending from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

east to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, south to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Description

Orchids in the genus ''Aphyllorchis'' are leafless, terrestrial,

mycotroph A mycotroph is a plant that gets all or part of its carbon, water, or nutrient supply through symbiotic association with fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes mic ...

herbs Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnish (food), garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typi ...

. A few to many flowers are borne on an erect, usually fleshy, unbranched flowering stem. The flowers are resupinate, more or less cup-shaped with the

s and

s free from each other and similar in length but with the

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 The fus ...

sepal curving forwards. The labellum is larger than the sepals and petals, boat-shaped and divided into two main sections, an upper "epichile" and lower "hypochile". The epichile is attached to the base of the

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

and the hypochile often with two lobes and turned downwards.

Taxonomy and naming

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

Carl Ludwig Blume Charles Ludwig de Blume or Karl Ludwig von Blume (9 June 1796 – 3 February 1862) was a German-Dutch botanist and entomologist who spent most of his professional life in the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. As deputy director of agricul ...

and the description was published in his book '' Tabellen en Platen voor de Javaansche Orchideeen''. The name ''Aphyllorchis'' is derived from the

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

words ''aphyllos'' meaning "without leaves" and ''orchis'' meaning "testicle" or "orchid".

List of species

The following is a list of species of ''Aphyllorchis'' recognised by the

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

as at October 2018: *'' Aphyllorchis acuminata'' J.J.Sm. *'' Aphyllorchis alpina''

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

& Pantl. *'' Aphyllorchis angustipetala'' J.J.Sm. *'' Aphyllorchis anomala'' Dockrill *'' Aphyllorchis arfakensis'' J.J.Sm. *'' Aphyllorchis caudata'' Rolfe ex Downie *'' Aphyllorchis elata'' Schltr. *'' Aphyllorchis evrardii'' Gagnep. *'' Aphyllorchis exilis'' Schltr. *'' Aphyllorchis gollani'' Duthie *'' Aphyllorchis halconensis'' Ames *'' Aphyllorchis kemulensis'' J.J.Sm. *'' Aphyllorchis maliauensis'' Suetsugu, Suleiman & Tsukaya *''

Aphyllorchis montana ''Aphyllorchis'', commonly known as pauper orchids or as 無葉蘭屬/无叶兰属 (wu ye lan shu), is a genus of about twenty species of Terrestrial plant, terrestrial leafless orchids in the Family (biology), family Orchidaceae. Orchids in th ...

'' Rchb.f. ** ''Aphyllorchis montana'' var. ''montana'' ** ''Aphyllorchis montana'' f. ''pingtungensis'' T.P.Lin ** ''Aphyllorchis montana'' var. ''rotundipetala'' ( C.S.Leou, S.K.Yu & C.T.Lee) T.P.Lin *'' Aphyllorchis pallida'' Blume *'' Aphyllorchis queenslandica'' Dockrill *'' Aphyllorchis siantanensis'' J.J.Sm. *'' Aphyllorchis simplex'' Tang & F.T.Wang *'' Aphyllorchis spiculaea'' Rchb.f. *'' Aphyllorchis striata'' ( Ridl.) Schltr. *'' Aphyllorchis sumatrana'' J.J.Sm. *'' Aphyllorchis yachangensis'' Ying Qin & Yan Liu

Distribution and habitat

Most species in the genus ''Aphyllorchis'' grows at low altitudes in wet forests, often near streams. They are found in India,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, China, Japan,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia. Two species are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and one to China.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q20844 Neottieae genera Orchids of India Orchids of China Orchids of Japan Orchids of Thailand Orchids of Vietnam Orchids of Malaysia Orchids of Indonesia Orchids of the Philippines Orchids of New Guinea Orchids of Queensland Myco-heterotrophic orchids Terrestrial orchids