''Trichoglottis'', commonly known as cherub orchids or 毛舌兰属 (mao she lan shu), 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

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Orchidaceae. Orchids in this genus are

epiphytic An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

plants with thick roots, relatively thick, fibrous stems and many large, thick, leathery leaves arranged in two ranks. The flowers are usually small and yellowish with light brown or purple markings. The flowers have broad

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, narrower

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s and a labellum which has three lobes and is often hairy. There are about 85

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), ...

distributed from

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

to the north-western

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. Most species grow in rainforest.

Description

Orchids in the genus ''Trichoglottis'' are epiphytic or climbing

herbs Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnish (food), garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typi ...

with a

monopodial Vascular plants with monopodial growth habits grow upward from a single point. They add leaves to the apex each year and the stem grows longer accordingly. The word ''Monopodial'' is derived from Greek language, Greek '', ''one'' and '', "foot", in ...

habit, thick roots and straggly or pendulous stems. There are many large, leathery linear to elliptic leaves arranged in two ranks with their bases sheathing the stems. From one to a few relatively small flowers are arranged on flowering stems arising from leaf

axil A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, fl ...

s. The flowers are resupinate and commonly yellowish with light brown or purple markings. They tend to be produced sporadically throughout the year and last for about a week. The sepals are free and subsimilar. The petals are also free from each other and slightly shorter than the sepals. The labellum is fixed rigidly to 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 ...

, fleshy, pubescent or hairy, formed by three lobes and features a sac or spur.

Taxonomy and naming

The genus ''Trichoglottis'' was first formally described in 1825 by

Carl Ludwig Blume Charles Ludwig de Blume or Karl Ludwig von Blume (9 June 1796 – 3 February 1862) was a German-Dutch botanist and entomologist who spent most of his professional life in the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. As deputy director of agricul ...

and the description was published in ''Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië''. The name ''Trichoglottis'' means "hair tongue", and refers to the type species' pubescent labellum.

''Ceratochilus''

In 2014, Kocyan and Schuiteman moved the former

monotypic genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

''Ceratochilus'' into ''Trichoglottis''. The sole species of ''Ceratochilus'', ''C. biglandulosus'', is endemic to the island of

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. Though ''Ceratochilus'' was never considered to be closely related to ''Trichoglottis,'' molecular analysis strongly supported its position as sister to ''T. pusilla''. Rather than excluding ''T. pusilla'', the authors merged ''Ceratochilus'' with ''Trichoglottis''.Kocyan, Alexander & Schuiteman, André. "New combinations in Aeridinae" (Orchidaceae). Phytotaxa 161: 77 (2014).

Species list

The following is a list of species of ''Trichoglottis'' accepted by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

as of May 2024: * '' Trichoglottis acutifolia'' Ridl. * '' Trichoglottis adnata'' J.J.Sm. * '' Trichoglottis agusanensis'' Ames & Quisumb. * '' Trichoglottis amesiana'' L.O.Williams * '' Trichoglottis angusta'' J.J.Sm. * '' Trichoglottis apoensis'' T.Hashim. * '' Trichoglottis atropurpurea'' Rchb.f. * '' Trichoglottis australiensis'' Dockrill * '' Trichoglottis biglandulosa'' (Blume) Kocyan & Schuit. * '' Trichoglottis bimae'' Rchb.f. * '' Trichoglottis bipenicillata'' J.J.Sm. * '' Trichoglottis bipunctata'' (C.S.P.Parish & Rchb.f.) Tang & F.T.Wang (1951). * ''

Trichoglottis borneensis ''Trichoglottis'', commonly known as cherub orchids or 毛舌兰属 (mao she lan shu), is a genus of flowering plants in the Family (biology), family Orchidaceae. Orchids in this genus are Epiphyte, epiphytic plants with thick roots, relatively ...

Peiris Peiris, Peries or Pieris ( Sinhalese: පීරිස්) is a surname attributed to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka. It is a common surname in the coastal regions of the island nation. The name originated from the Portuguese surname Peres, ...

Kumar A coin, around 200 Yaudheyas.html" ;"title="BCE, of the Yaudheyas">BCE, of the Yaudheyas with depiction of Kumāra Karttikeya Kumar (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: wikt:कुमार, कुमार ''kumārá'') is a title, given name, mi ...

* '' Trichoglottis ramosa'' (Lindl.) Senghas in F.R.R.Schlechter * '' Trichoglottis retusa'' Blume * '' Trichoglottis rigida'' Blume * '' Trichoglottis rosea'' (Lindl.) Ames in E.D.Merrill * '' Trichoglottis scandens'' J.J.Sm. * '' Trichoglottis scaphigera'' Ridl. * '' Trichoglottis seidenfadenii'' Aver. * '' Trichoglottis simplex'' J.J.Sm. * '' Trichoglottis sitihasmahae'' J.J.Wood & A.L.Lamb * '' Trichoglottis smithii'' Carr * '' Trichoglottis subviolacea'' (Llanos) Merr. * '' Trichoglottis tamesisii'' Quisumb. & C.Schweinf. * '' Trichoglottis tenera'' (Lindl.) Rchb.f. * '' Trichoglottis tenuis'' Ames & C.Schweinf. in O.Ames * '' Trichoglottis tinekeae'' Schuit. * '' Trichoglottis tricostata'' J.J.Sm. * '' Trichoglottis triflora'' (Guillaumin) Garay & Seidenf. * '' Trichoglottis uexkuelliana'' J.J.Sm. * '' Trichoglottis valida'' Ridl. * '' Trichoglottis vandiflora'' J.J.Sm. * '' Trichoglottis ventricularis'' Kocyan & Schuit. * '' Trichoglottis winkleri'' J.J.Sm. ** ''Trichoglottis winkleri'' var. ''minor'' J.J.Sm. ** ''Trichoglottis winkleri'' var. ''winkleri'' * '' Trichoglottis zollingeriana'' (Kraenzl.) J.J.Sm.

New species

Two new species have been described, but not accepted by Plants of the World Online as of 10 September 2023: * ''Trichoglottis najibii'' (

Kalimantan Kalimantan (; ) is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area, and consists of the provinces of Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan. The non-Ind ...

, Indonesia); * ''Trichoglottis quadriga'' (Sri Lanka).

Distribution and habitat

Orchids in the genus ''Trichoglottis'' are found in China, Taiwan,

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

, Bangladesh, the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...

, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the

Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an archipelago, archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of t ...

, Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo, Java, the

Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands (, , ), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali pro ...

, Malaysia, the

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonics, Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West ...

, the Philippines,

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

, Sumatra, the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about . History The first inhabitants of the archipela ...

, New Guinea the Solomon Islands,

Queensland (Australia) Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...

, the

Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the cen ...

and

Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

. Most species grow in rainforest.

Gallery

File:Trichoglottis atropurpurea Orchi 2012-09-21 126.jpg, '' Trichoglottis atropurpurea'' File:Trichoglottis philippinensis105.jpg, '' Trichoglottis philippinensis'' File:Dark purple Trichoglottis (70213s)c.jpg, '' Trichoglottis atropurpurea''

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2391468 Vandeae genera