Trichoglottis

Trichoglottis, commonly known as cherub orchids or 毛舌兰属 (mao she lan shu), is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orchidaceae. Orchids in this genus are epiphytic plants with thick roots, relatively thick, fibrous stems and many large, thick, leathery leaves arranged in two ranks. The flowers are usually small and yellowish with light brown or purple markings. The flowers have broad sepals, narrower petals and a labellum which has three lobes and is often hairy. There are about 85 species distributed from tropical and subtropical Asia to the north-western Pacific. Most species grow in rainforest. Orchids in the genus Trighoglottis are epiphytic, or climbing, monopodial herbs with thick roots and straggly or pendulous stems. There are many large, leathery linear to elliptic leaves arranged in two ranks with their bases sheathing the stems. From one to a few relatively small flowers are arranged on flowering stems arising from leaf axils. The flowers are resupinate, usually yellowish with light brown or purple markings, usually produced sporadically throughout the year and last for about a week.The sepals are free from, and more or less similar to each other. The petals are also free from each other and slightly shorter than the sepals. The labellum is rigidly fixed to the column, different in size from the sepals and petal, fleshy, often hairy with three lobes and a sac or spur. The genus Trichoglottis was first formally described in 1825 by Carl Ludwig Blume and the description was published in Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië. The following is a list of species of Trichoglottis accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families as at January 9019: Orchids in the genus Trichoglottis are found in China, Taiwan, Assam, Bangladesh, the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, the Andaman Islands, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Nicobar Islands, Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo, Java, the Lesser Sunda Islands, Malaysia, the Maluku Islands, the Philippines, Sulawesi, Sumatra, the Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea the Solomon Islands, , the Caroline Islands and Palau. Most species grow in rainforest.