''Thecostele'' is a monotypic genus of orchids (family Orchidaceae) and of subtribe

Cymbidiinae Cymbidiinae is an orchid subtribe in the tribe Cymbidieae. The subtribe is named after the genus ''Cymbidium'', the boat orchids. It also contains the largest known species of orchids, ''Grammatophyllum speciosum''. See also * Taxonomy of the ...

. The only species in the genus is ''Thecostele alata'', first described as ''Cymbidium alatum'' by the Scottish botanist William Roxburgh in 1832. It was transferred to the genus ''Thecostele'' in 1874 by the English botanist

Charles Samuel Pollock Parish Charles Samuel Pollock Parish (18221897) was an Anglo-Indian clergyman and botanist who served as chaplain to the forces of the Honourable East India Company in Burma. With his wife Eleanor he collected and painted plants, chiefly orchids, ...

and the German botanist Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach. It is native to tropical Asia and is found in northeastern India, Bangladesh,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, Thailand, Cambodia,

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Two species formerly recognized in this genus (''T. secunda'' and ''T. maingayi'') were transferred to the new genus ''

Thecopus ''Thecopus'' is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It has two known species, native to Indochina and Borneo.Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.C. & Rasmussen, F.N. (2009). Epidendroideae (Part two). Genera Orchida ...

'' by the Danish botanist Gunnar Seidenfaden in 1983, a decision supported by the number of pollinia and shape 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. ...

References

External links

* * Orchids of Asia Cymbidieae genera Cymbidiinae Monotypic Epidendroideae genera {{Cymbidieae-stub