Silvorchis

Gastrodieae subtribe Epipogiinae

Saprophytes arising from a subterranean tuberoid rhizome. Stems erect, slender, rarely branched. Leaves absent. Inflorescences terminal few-flowered racemes. Flowers resupinate, comparatively large. Sepals and petals free, spreading, the petals clawed and partially fused to the column. Lip three-lobed, without a spur or callus. Column dorsally compressed, the stigma large; pollinia 2, each with a caudicle, both attached to a bifid viscidium.

From the Latin silva, meaning forest, and the Greek orchis, meaning orchid, referring to the plant’s native habitat of thick forest.

A monotypic genus endemic to Java.

Comber, J. B. 1990. Orchids of Java. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.