Pholidota (plant)

Pholidota (plant)
Pholidota, commonly known as rattlesnake orchids, is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Plants in this genus are clump-forming epiphytes or lithophytes with pseudobulbs, each with a single large leaf and a large number of small, whitish flowers arranged in two ranks along a thin, wiry flowering stem that emerges from the top of the pseudobulb. There are about thirty five species native to areas from tropical and subtropical Asia to the southwestern Pacific.
Description
Orchids in the genus Pholidota are sympodial epiphytic, lithophytic or, rarely, terrestrial herbs with pseudobulbs, each with one or two large, stalked leathery leaves. A large number of small flowers are arranged in two ranks along a thin, wiry flowering stem that emerges from the top of the pseudobulb. There is a large, papery bract at the base of each flower. The flowers are white, cream-coloured, yellowish or pinkish with a concave dorsal sepal and smaller petals. The labellum is rigidly fixed to the base of the column and there is a deep sac-like structure at its base.
Distribution
Orchids in the genus Pholidota are found in China, Taiwan, the Indian Subcontinent, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Nicobar Islands, Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo, Java, the Lesser Sunda Islands, Peninsular Malaysia, the Maluku Islands, the Philippines, Sulawesi, Sumatra, the Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Queensland (Australia), Fiji, New Caledonia, the Santa Cruz Islands and Vanuatu.
Taxonomy and naming
The genus Pholidota was first formally described in 1825 by John Lindley who published the description in Hooker's Exotic Flora, Containing Figures and Descriptions of New, Rare or Otherwise Interesting Exotic Plants. The name Pholidota is derived from the Ancient Greek word pholidotos meaning "clad in scales", referring to the large bracts at the base of the flower in some species.
Species list
The following is a list of Pholidota species accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families as at January 2019:
Pholidota advena (C.S.P.Parish & Rchb.f.) Hook.f. - Myanmar
Pholidota aidiolepis Seidenf. & de Vogel - Thailand
Pholidota articulata Lindl. - Guizhou, Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan, Assam, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam
Pholidota camelostalix Rchb.f. - Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Timor, Flores
Pholidota camelostalix var. camelostalix
Pholidota camelostalix var. vaginata (Carr) de Vogel
Pholidota cantonensis Rolfe - Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Taiwan, Zhejiang.
Pholidota carnea (Blume) Lindl. - Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, New Guinea, Bismarcks
Pholidota carnea var. carnea
Pholidota carnea var. parviflora (Hook.f.) de Vogel
Pholidota carnea var. pumila (Ridl.) de Vogel
Pholidota chinensis Lindl. - Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Tibet, Yunnan, Zhejiang, Myanmar, Vietnam
Pholidota clemensii Ames - Borneo
Pholidota convallariae (C.S.P.Parish & Rchb.f.) Hook.f. - Yunnan, Assam, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Java, Sumatra
Pholidota corniculata Pfitzer & Kraenzl. in H.G.A.Engler - Assam
Pholidota cyclopetala Kraenzl. in H.G.A.Engler - Sumatra
Pholidota gibbosa (Blume) Lindl. ex de Vriese - Solomons and much of Indonesia
Pholidota globosa (Blume) Lindl. - Sumatra, Java, Bali
Pholidota guibertiae Finet - Vietnam
Pholidota imbricata Lindl. in W.J.Hooker - widespread from Tibet to Queensland and New Caledonia
Pholidota katakiana Phukan - Arunachal Pradesh
Pholidota leveilleana Schltr. - Vietnam, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan
Pholidota longibulba Holttum - Peninsular Malaysia
Pholidota longilabra de Vogel - Sumatra
Pholidota longipes S.C.Chen & Z.H.Tsi - Yunnan
Pholidota mediocris de Vogel - Borneo
Pholidota missionariorum Gagnep. - Bhutan, eastern India, Myanmar, Vietnam
Pholidota nervosa (Blume) Rchb.f. - Sumatra, Java
Pholidota niana Y.T.Liu, R.Li & C.L.Long - Yunnan
Pholidota pachyglossa Aver. - Vietnam
Pholidota pallida Lindl. - Yunnan, Bhutan, Assam, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia
Pholidota pectinata Ames - Borneo
Pholidota pholas Rchb.f. in W.G.Walpers - southeastern China
Pholidota protracta Hook.f. - Yunnan, Nepal, Assam, Bhutan, Myanmar
Pholidota pygmaea H.J.Chowdhery & G.D.Pal - Arunachal Pradesh
Pholidota pyrranthela Gagnep. - Vietnam
Pholidota recurva Lindl. - Yunnan, Bhutan, Assam, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam
Pholidota roseans Schltr. - Guizhou, Vietnam
Pholidota rubra Lindl. - Sikkim, Bhutan, Assam, Vietnam
Pholidota schweinfurthiana L.O.Williams - Borneo
Pholidota sigmatochilus J.J.Sm. - Sabah
Pholidota sulcata J.J.Sm. - Borneo
Pholidota ventricosa (Blume) Rchb.f. - Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, New Guinea
Pholidota wattii King & Pantl. - Assam
Pholidota yongii J.J.Wood
Pholidota yunnanensis Rolfe - Vietnam, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan
References
External links
Pholidota photo in nature
Coelogyninae
Arethuseae genera