Pauper orchids facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pauper orchids |
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| Aphyllorchis montana in the Gunung Leuser National Park | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Epidendroideae |
| Tribe: | Neottieae |
| Genus: | Aphyllorchis Blume |
| Type species | |
| Aphyllorchis pallida Blume
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| Synonyms | |
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Sinorchis S.C.Chen |
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Aphyllorchis, often called pauper orchids, is a group of about twenty kinds of orchids. These special plants grow on the ground and don't have leaves like most plants. They are found across a large area, from India east to China and Japan, and south to Indonesia, New Guinea, and Queensland in Australia.
Contents
What Pauper Orchids Look Like
Pauper orchids are unique because they are herbs that grow on land and don't have any leaves. Instead of making their own food using sunlight like most plants, they get their nutrients from fungi in the soil. This is why they are called "mycotrophic."
These orchids have upright, often thick stems. On these stems, you'll find a few to many flowers. The flowers are usually cup-shaped. Their sepals and petals are separate and about the same length. The top sepal often curves forward.
Flower Parts
A key part of the flower is the labellum, which is larger than the sepals and petals. It looks like a boat and is split into two main parts:
- The epichile is the upper part, connected to the base of the column (the central part of the orchid flower).
- The hypochile is the lower part, which often has two lobes and points downwards.
How Pauper Orchids Got Their Name
The genus Aphyllorchis was first officially described in 1825 by a scientist named Carl Ludwig Blume. He wrote about it in his book Tabellen en Platen voor de Javaansche Orchideeen.
The name Aphyllorchis comes from two Ancient Greek words:
- Aphyllos means "without leaves."
- Orchis means "orchid."
So, the name perfectly describes these leafless orchids!
Where Pauper Orchids Grow
Most types of Aphyllorchis orchids prefer to grow in wet forests at lower elevations, often close to streams.
You can find these interesting plants in many places, including:
- India
- Sri Lanka
- China
- Japan
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Myanmar
- Malaysia
- The Philippines
- Indonesia
- New Guinea
- Australia
Two specific types of pauper orchids are found only in tropical Queensland, Australia. Another type is found only in China.
