Polystachya

• Authority

  Britton, Nathaniel L. & Millspaugh, Charles F. 1920. The Bahama Flora.

• Family

  Orchidaceae

• Scientific Name

  Polystachya

• Description

  Description - Epiphytic, leafy-stemmed orchids, the stems usually clustered, sheathed at the base, the roots thick-fibrous, the many-nerved leaves eonduplicate in the bud, the upper reduced to long, narrow scales, the small flowers in terminal, panicles or spike-like racemes. Median sepal narrower than the lateral ones. Petals narrower than the lateral sepals. Lip jointed with the base of the column, spurless, sessile, bent below, 3-lobed, the lateral lobes small. Column short, with a distinct foot. Anther terminal, lid-like, convex, usually 1-celled; pollinia 4, waxy, broadly ovate or nearly hemispheric, not appendaged. [Greek, many spikes.] About 170 species, mostly of tropical regions. Type species: Cranichis luteola Sw.