The perianth always has six lobes which are arranged in two whorls of three. The lip or labellum is usually a prominent and highly complicated lobe. A noteworthy exception is our southern African genus Disa, which has a simple and rather insignificant lip. The perianth lobes can be drawn out into spurs, which may be minute and less than 1 mm in length or up to 20 cm long. Satyrium has two spurs on its lip.
Spurs normally hold nectar as a reward for the pollinators.
Orchids have undivided, and in most cases, rather narrow leaves. Leaves mostly range from linear to lanceolate in shape. They are fairly thin in terrestrial orchids which frequently shed their leaves at the beginning of the dry season. There are also a few leafless orchids. A clearly visible feature is the column or gynostemium in the centre of the flower which contains both the style with its sticky receptive surface and the pollen.