''Corycium'' is a genus of terrestrial

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 comprising some 14 species in Eastern and Southern Africa including 10 species native to the

fynbos Fynbos (; , ) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. The area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate. The fynbos ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> In

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

they are called monkshood orchids. Their resting stage is a

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure that plants use as storage organs for nutrients, derived from stems or roots. Tubers help plants perennate (survive winter or dry months), provide energy and nutrients, and are a means of asexual reproduc ...

and when growing they have many leaves scattered along the stem but concentrated near the base. The dense spikes of flowers are not particularly striking and are often brown, green or purple. The uppermost 3

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s are connivent into a hood whilst the lateral

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 are almost united. The lip is joined to the column bearing an appendage that covers the

anther The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

Species

#'' Corycium alticola'' Parkman & Schelpe - South Africa, Lesotho #'' Corycium bicolorum'' (Thunb.) Sw. - South Africa #'' Corycium bifidum'' Sond. - South Africa #'' Corycium carnosum'' (Lindl.) Rolfe in W.H.Harvey - South Africa #'' Corycium crispum'' (Thunb.) Sw. - South Africa #'' Corycium deflexum'' (Bolus) Rolfe in W.H.Harvey - South Africa #'' Corycium dracomontanum'' Parkman & Schelpe - South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi #'' Corycium excisum'' Lindl. - South Africa #'' Corycium flanaganii'' (Bolus) Kurzweil & H.P.Linder - South Africa, Lesotho #'' Corycium ingeanum'' E.G.H.Oliv. - South Africa #'' Corycium microglossum'' Lindl. - South Africa #'' Corycium nigrescens'' Sond. - South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Tanzania #'' Corycium orobanchoides'' (L.f.) Sw. - South Africa #'' Corycium tricuspidatum'' Bolus - South Africa

References

* (1800) Kongl. Vetenskaps Academiens Nya Handlingar 21: 220. * (2001) Orchidoideae (Part 1). Genera Orchidacearum 2: 23 ff. Oxford University Press.

External links

* * Coryciinae Orchideae genera {{Orchidoideae-stub