''Cleistes'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of orchids (family

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family (biology), family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan plants that ...

). It contains approximately 40–50 species, most of them native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, with a few species extending north into

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

and

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

. Two North American species were formerly included in this group, but are now regarded as a separate genus, ''

Cleistesiopsis ''Cleistesiopsis'' is an orchid genus in the tribe Pogonieae. Its members were included in ''Cleistes'' until 2009. ''Cleistesiopsis'' is native to the eastern and southeastern United States from New Jersey south to Florida, and west to Kentucky ...

''.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Species, ''Cleistesiopsis''
/ref>

References

* (1840) The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants 409. * (2003) Genera Orchidacearum 3: 286 ff. Oxford University Press.

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q134020 Vanilloideae genera Pogonieae Orchids of Central America Orchids of South America