The Epidendroideae, or epidendroid orchids, are a subfamily of the orchid family (Orchidaceae). Orchid re-directs here; for alternate uses see Orchid (disambiguation) Genera Over 800 See List of Orchidaceae genera. ... ... Subfamilies Apostasioideae Cypripedioideae Epidendroideae Orchidoideae Vanilloideae For genera, see list of Orchidaceae genera. ...

The former subfamily Vandoideae has become a specialised clade within a more broadly defined Epidendroideae. This cladogram shows the relationship among various insect groups. ...

This is the largest subfamily, larger than all the other orchid subfamilies together. It comprises more than 15,000 species in 576 genera. In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ...

Most are tropical epiphytes (usually with pseudobulbs), but some are terrestrials and even a few myco-heterotrophs, which are parasitic upon mycorrhizal fungi. An example of an epiphyte assemblage of orchids and bromeliads in a garden setting The term epiphyte refers to any plant that grows upon or attached to another living plant. ... The pseudobulb is a storage organ derived from the part of a stem between two leaf nodes. ... A terrestrial plant is one that grows on land. ... Myco-heterotrophs ... A parasite is an organism that lives in or on the living tissue of a host organism at the expense of it. ... A mycorrhiza (typically seen in the plural form mycorrhizae meaning fungus roots) is a distinct type of root symbiosis in which individual hyphae extending from the mycelium of a fungus colonize the roots of a host plant. ... Divisions Chytridiomycota Zygomycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota The Fungi (singular: fungus) are a large group of organisms ranked as a kingdom within the Domain Eukaryota. ...

They typically contain the remaining orchids with a single, fertile anther ( = monandrous), which is also fully incumbent(= strongly convex) to suberect (= ascending towards the edges). The anther form arises from column elongation or, as in the vandoids, from early anther bending. The incumbent anther forms a right angle with the column axis or is pointed backward in many genera. Flower of the spider tree (Crateva religiosa) with its numerous conspicuous stamens The stamen is the male organ of a flower. ... The column, or technically the gynostemium, is a reproductive structure in the center of an orchid flower (also in the birthwort family Aristolochiaceae, such as in Thottea hainanensis ). It is derived from the fusion of both male and female parts (stamens and pistil) into a single organ. ...

Most have hard pollinia, i.e. a mass of waxy pollen or of coherent pollen grains. The pollinia are with caudicle and viscidium or without. Pollinia of Phalaenopsis Pollinium, or plural pollinia, is a coherent mass of pollen grains. ... SEM image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea), hollyhock (Sidalcea malviflora), lily (Lilium auratum), primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and castor bean (Ricinus communis). ... Viscidium is a sticky substance in flowers used to collect pollen or pollinia; entomological orchid pollination uses the viscidium dually. ...

The stigma are entire or 3-lobed; a beak is present. The apical part of the muiddle stigma lobe forms a stipe ( = pollinium stalk). Amaryllis style and stigmas A carpel is the female reproductive organ of a flower; the basic unit of the gynoecium. ... In botany, a stipe is a stem type of structure. ...

The ovary is 1-locular. Ovary in plants is the female part of a flower. ...

The leaves are distichous or spiraling, growing on thickened stems. The leaves of a Beech tree A leaf with laminar structure and pinnate venation In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. ... A stem is the above ground axis of a vascular plant. ...

The Epidendroideae are difficult to classify. They have been divided in “lower epidendroids” and “higher epidendroids”.

The lower epidendroids are paraphyletic and contain the following tribes: Paraphyletic - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

• Sobralliinae
• Neottieae
• Palmorchideae
• Tropidieae
• Diceratostelae
• Triphoreae
• Nervilieae
• Gastrodieae (achlorophyllous)
• and the anomalous genus Xerorchis

The higher epidendroids are partly monophyletic and partly polyphyletic (tribes Arethuseae and Epidendreae). Species See text. ... In phylogenetics, a group is monophyletic (Greek: of one stem) if all organisms in that group are known to have developed from a common ancestral form, and all descendants of that form are included in the group. ... In biology, a taxon is polyphyletic if it is descended from more than one root form (in Greek poly = many and phyletic = racial). ... Subtribes Arethusinae Bletiinae Sobraliinae Thuniinae Arethuseae is a mid-sized tribe of orchids in the subfamily Epidendroideae. ... Orchid re-directs here; for alternate uses see Orchid (disambiguation) Genera Over 800 See List of Orchidaceae genera. ...

• Maxillarieae
• Cymbidieae
• Vandeae
• Epidendreae II
• Calypsoeae (problematic, difficult to classify)
• Dendrobieae
• Malaxideae
• Podochileae
• Epidendreae I
• Arethuseae
• Coelogyneae

This classification has a rather ephemeral nature. Changes are likely to occur as new data become known. Genera See text Maxillarieae is a large and complex group or tribe of Orchids native to South and Central America. ... The Cymbidieae is a tribe within the family of orchids. ... Orchid re-directs here; for alternate uses see Orchid (disambiguation) Genera Over 800 See List of Orchidaceae genera. ... Orchid re-directs here; for alternate uses see Orchid (disambiguation) Genera Over 800 See List of Orchidaceae genera. ... Subtribes Arethusinae Bletiinae Sobraliinae Thuniinae Arethuseae is a mid-sized tribe of orchids in the subfamily Epidendroideae. ...

External links

• A phylogenetic analysis of the Orchidaceae - evidence from rbcL nucleotide sequences
• Orchid Tree : a phylogeny of epiphytes on the tree of life