''Pachites'' 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 ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the orchid 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 two known

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

, both

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 ...

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 ...

.Hans Peter Linder and Hubert Kurzweil. 1999. ''Orchids of Southern Africa''. 504 pages. A. A. Balkema. .Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. (See ''External links'' below). One of these, '' Pachites appressus'', is very rare.Richard J. Waterman, Anton Pauw, Timothy G. Barraclough, and Vincent Savolainen. 2009. "Pollinators underestimated: A molecular phylogeny reveals widespread floral convergence in oil-secreting orchids (sub-tribe Coryciinae) of the Cape of South Africa". ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 51(1):100-110. . ''Pachites'' was named by

John Lindley John Lindley Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidology, orchidologist. Early years Born in Old Catton, Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four c ...

in 1835.''Pachites'' in

International Plant Names Index The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) describes itself as "a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes." Coverage of plant names is best at the rank of species and genus. It inclu ...

. (see ''External links'' below).John Lindley. 1830-1840. ''The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants'': page 301. Ridgeways, Piccadilly: London, UK. (See ''External links'' below). The

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word ''pachys'', meaning "thick, stout", and refers to the

rostellum The rostellum is a projecting part of the column in Orchidaceae flowers, and separates the male androecium from the female gynoecium, commonly preventing self-fertilisation. In many orchids, such as '' Orchis mascula'', the pollinia or pollen m ...

.Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. ''CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names'', volume III. CRC Press: Baton Rouge, New York, London, Washington DC. (set). (see ''External links'' below). In ''Genera Orchidacearum'' volume 2, ''Pachites'' and '' Satyrium'' constitute the

subtribe Subtribe is a taxonomic category ranking which is below the rank of tribe and above genus. The standard suffix for a subtribe is -ina (in animals) or -inae (in plants). The first use of this word dates back to the late 19th century. An example of ...

Satyriinae Satyriinae is an orchid subtribe in the tribe Diseae. See also * Taxonomy of the Orchidaceae The taxonomy of the Orchidaceae ( orchid family) has evolved slowly during the last 250 years, starting with Carl Linnaeus who in 1753 recognize ...

of the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Diseae Diseae is an orchid tribe in the subfamily Orchidoideae.. (See ''External links'' below). It was recognized in ''Genera Orchidacearum'' volume 2, which was published in 2001. It consisted of 12 genera in five subtribes. In molecular phylogenetic ...

.Alec M. Pridgeon, Phillip J. Cribb, Mark W. Chase, and Finn N. Rasmussen. 1999-2014. ''Genera Orchidacearum'' Oxford University Press. (volume 1), (volume 2), (volume 3), (volume 4), (volume 5), (volume 6). (See ''External links'' below). After that

work Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an ani ...

was

published Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

in 2001,

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

studies showed that ''Pachites'' does not form a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

with ''Satyrium''.Benny Bytebier, Timotheűs van der Niet, Dirk U. Bellstedt, and Hans Peter Linder. 2008. "The phylogenetic position of the enigmatic orchid genus ''Pachites''". ''South African Journal of Botany'' 74(2):306-312. . Instead, ''Pachites'' occupies a basal

position Position often refers to: * Position (geometry), the spatial location (rather than orientation) of an entity * Position, a job or occupation Position may also refer to: Games and recreation * Position (poker), location relative to the dealer * ...

in Diseae. In spite of the papers

in 2008 and 2009, uncertainties remain over the exact relationships of ''Pachites'' to other genera. In a

classification Classification is the activity of assigning objects to some pre-existing classes or categories. This is distinct from the task of establishing the classes themselves (for example through cluster analysis). Examples include diagnostic tests, identif ...

of orchids that was published in 2015, ''Pachites'', ''

Disa Disa is the heroine of a Swedish legendary saga, which was documented by Olaus Magnus, in 1555. It is believed to be from the Middle Ages, but includes Old Norse themes. It was elaborated by Johannes Messenius in his drama ''Disa'', which was th ...

'', and ''

Huttonaea ''Huttonaea'' is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It contains 5 known species, all native to southern Africa (South Africa and Lesotho). This genus was named in honour of Caroline Hutton née Atherstone. # Refere ...

'' constitute the subtribe

Disinae Disinae is a subtribe of orchids that has been differently defined and placed in the two classification systems that are currently in use for orchids. ''Genera Orchidacearum'', which is currently the definitive work on orchid taxonomy, delimits ...

of the tribe

Orchideae Orchideae is a tribe of orchids in the subfamily Orchidoideae. Historically, it was divided into 2 subtribes, Orchidinae and Habenariinae. The subtribe Orchidinae alone contains about 1,800 species. However, although some phylogenetic studies hav ...

.Mark W. Chase, Kenneth M. Cameron, John V. Freudenstein, Alec M. Pridgeon, Gerardo A. Salazar, Cássio van den Berg, and André Schuiteman. 2015. "An updated classification of Orchidaceae". ''Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society'' 177(2):151-174. (See ''External links'' below). This

circumscription Circumscription may refer to: * Circumscribed circle * Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) * Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthr ...

of Disinae, however, was done provisionally, to avoid creating new subtribes before further studies could determine, with increased

certainty Certainty (also known as epistemic certainty or objective certainty) is the epistemic property of beliefs which a person has no rational grounds for doubting. One standard way of defining epistemic certainty is that a belief is certain if and ...

, the true affinities of these three genera.

Species

References

Sources

* Berg Pana, H. 2005. ''Handbuch der Orchideen-Namen. Dictionary of Orchid Names. Dizionario dei nomi delle orchidee''. Ulmer, Stuttgart

External links

''Pachites''World Checklist of Selected Plant FamiliesKew Gardens

''Pachites''Plant NamesIPNI

page 301View BookThe Genera and Species of Orchidaceous PlantsTitlesBHL

CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: D-LCRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: M-QBotany & Plant ScienceLife ScienceCRC Press

page 48''Genera Orchidacearum'' volume 2''Genera Orchidacearum''Google Books

An updated classification of Orchidaceae (2015)Botanical Journal of the Linnean SocietyWiley Online Library
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1310123 Orchids of South Africa Orchideae Orchideae genera