''Pinalia polyura'', or many-tailed pinalia, is a member of the

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. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

family endemic to 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 ...

. It is semi-

pendulous This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

and

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 ...

, with

pseudobulbs 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 h ...

that are 20 cm long, 1 cm in diameter, and somewhat club shaped. Each new growth begins halfway along the previous year's pseudobulbs, making the plant longer each year. Each pseudobulb has about 5 shiny,

lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regula ...

leaves approximately 15 cm long and 2 cm wide. Inflorescences appear at the upper portion of the plant and are pendulous, about 10 cm long and bear up to 40 flowers each 1.5 cm in diameter. It grows as an epiphyte and sometimes as a semi-terrestrial plant at elevations to 2,400 meters.

Taxonomic history

Eria polyura - Edwards vol 28 (NS 5) pl 32 (1842)

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 ...

named this species ''Eria polyura'' in 1841 in

Edwards's Botanical Register ''The Botanical Register'', subsequently known as ''Edwards's Botanical Register'', was an illustrated horticultural magazine that ran from 1815 to 1847. It was started by the botanical illustrator Sydenham Edwards, who had previously illustrat ...

. It was moved to the genus ''Pinalia'' in 1892 by

Otto Kuntze Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze (23 June 1843 – 27 January 1907) was a German botanist. Biography Otto Kuntze was born in Leipzig. An apothecary in his early career, he published an essay entitled ''Pocket Fauna of Leipzig''. Between 1863 and 1866 he ...

References

polyura ''Polyura'' is a subgenus of butterflies also referred to as Nawab butterflies and belonging to the brush-footed butterfly subfamily Charaxinae, or leafwing butterflies. Like the large and conspicuous forest queens (subgenus '' Euxanthe''), they ...

Orchids of the Philippines Plants described in 1841 {{Epidendroideae-stub