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