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last update: 9 November, 2004 by Joseph Dougherty

Orchids of the World

OrchidMania's Online Orchid Species Encyclopedia

Please note: The species listings without photographs aren't working. The switch to a new hosting provider broke the script and we're working on it - please be patient. Thanks!

Worldwide, there are approximately 25,000 to 30,000 orchid species, arranged into roughly 850 genera. As you can see, we have a long way to go before this site is truly an exhaustive encyclopedia. But that is the goal. You can help: send your pictures of orchid species, whether photographed in the wild or in cultivation. At the moment this site mostly contains New World genera. I will begin adding Old World genera soon, especially the mainstays of popular orchid growing, such as Dendrobium and Paphiopedilum.

You can help this encyclopedia grow! I welcome your contributions of images and cultural information. Contact me at josephd@ecology.org to contribute your images of species not yet listed in this website, as well as alternate color forms and similar variations for those species that are already here. We'll be happy to share them with the orchid community via this site and give you credit for the images and a link to your website.

Site Contents:

 


Search this site
Search this Website
If you don't find the species you are looking for, let me know. I will determine if it's an oversight or is listed as a synonym. Be sure to search for it first.
HINT
: If you're looking for an Epidendrum, Encyclia, Dendrobium, Bulbophyllum, or one of the other "mega genera," the species you are looking for may now be in a different genus... so try searching with just the species name (bearing in mind that the gender of the species may change if the genus gender changed).

Photoshop 7Nikon Coolpix 5000This site is constructed with Adobe Photoshop and Nikon digital cameras, such as the Nikon D1x and Coolpix 5000. I use a number of different reference texts to look up this information.

You will enjoy this site best (i.e. the photographs will look better) if your monitor is properly calibrated. If images seem too dark (most common for PC users) or too light and faded (more common for Mac users), it may be due to the variances in the native configurations of your system and monitor. Visit this site (external link) for information about CRT monitor displays and instructions to help you calibrate your monitor.

 

 

How You Can Show Your Support and Thanks

Creating and maintaining this Website is a costly affair. Many thousands of volunteer hours (not to mention the many thousands of dollars spent by volunteers on camera equipment and film) have been expended to bring you, free of charge, the information in this Website.

If you appreciate this site and the many resources dedicated to providing it... you can show your appreciation by supporting OrchidMania's nonprofit work. If you are local, donations of plants are accepted and appreciated. We sell donated plants at our annual fundraiser to raise money for HIV/AIDS education, prevention, and relief. You can also support us with a monetary donation. This helps us to provide support to grassroots AIDS groups worldwide, and also defrays the ongoing monthly cost of maintaining the very large space on our Web host's server for this online encyclopedia. Contact our donations coordinator for more information on how you can get involved. You will receive an acknowledgement and receipt from our Donations Coordinator when you donate to OrchidMania and all donations are fully tax deductible. OrchidMania is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Read more about our charter here. Thank you for helping us to help others....

Sincerely,
Joseph Dougherty

P.S. You can also show your support for this site by buying your next orchid from one of the excellent and conscientious vendors, listed in our site acknowledgements, who have helped support this site. Let them know you appreciate their efforts to support OrchidMania's work.

Genera Described in this Online Encyclopedia

Genera in bold have been revised to match the site's updated appearance, with recent taxonomic reorganizations factored into the overhaul. Other genera (at this point, still most of them) still reflect the old look. The site is currently very heavy on neotropical species and pretty sparse on Asian/African species, but I'm going to work at getting the most commonly cultivated genera posted in the near future. Stop by frequently to see the progress... and drop me a note if there's anything you're hoping to see added.

† Genera marked with '†' are monotypic and will jump directly to the species description. All other genera links will send you to an index of species for that genus.

* Genera marked with '*' have descriptions for all known (at this time) natural taxa.

Please note: The species listings without photographs aren't working. The switch to a new hosting provider broke the script and we're working on it - please be patient. Thanks!

Genera with a camera icon are illustrated with photographs and/or botanical lithographs.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

 

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

 

K

L

M

N

Nageliella
Nanodes
Neocogniauxia
Neodryas

Neofinetia * †
Neogardneria
Neokoehleria
Neolauchea
Neolehmannia
Neomoorea
Neorubania
Neotinea
Neottia
Neottianthe
Neowilliamsia
Nidema
Nigritella
Notylia

O

 

P

Pabstia
Pachyphyllum
Palmorchis
Palumbina
Panisea * †
Paphinia
Paradisanthus
Pelexia
Peristeria
Pescatorea
Phaius
Phloeophila
Phragmipedium
Phymatidium
Physosiphon
Pinelia
Piperia
Pityphyllum
Platanthera
Platyglottis
Platyrhiza
Platystele
Platythelys
Plectrophora
Pleurobotryum
Pleurothallis
Pleurothallopsis
Pogonia
Pogoniopsis
Polycycnis
Polyotidium
Polyradicon
Polystachya
Ponera
Ponthieva
Porphyrostachys
Porroglossum
Prescottia
Promenaea
Prosthechea *
Pseudocentrum
Pseudogoodyera
Pseudolaelia
Pseudorchis
Psilochilus
Psychilis
Psychopsis
Psygmorchis
Pterichis
Pteroglossa
Pteroglossaspis
Pterostemma
Pygmaeorchis

Q

R

.

S

T

U

V

W

X

Z

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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Site Acknowledgements

I want to thank a number of professional growers and dedicated hobbyists for their invaluable assistance in identifying some of the orchids contained in these pages, or for simply being kind enough to allow photographers access to their blooming plants. Please visit and support these generous growers:

 

Other Recommended Sites

  • Missouri Botanical Garden's VAST nomenclatural database via W3TROPICOS.
  • Jay Pfahl's Internet Species Encyclopedia: Jay's site is an excellent resource and I encourage you to visit him frequently and support his efforts. I've contributed images to Jay's site myself. This site is not meant to replace Jay's; rather, the two sites together should be used as complementary references.

 


All images on this site are copyrighted by the original photographer. Please be considerate and do not use these images without the photographer's prior permission. We welcome your contributions of images and cultural information. Contact me at josephd@ecology.org to contribute your images of alternate color forms, foliage variations, cultural tips, etc. We'll be happy to share them with the orchid community via this site and give you the credit, along with a link to your website if applicable.

How to grow common orchids and other horticultural tips.
OrchidMania homepage
Go back to the last page you were looking at.
About OrchidMania.
Donors who support our work.
Orchid species of the world.
Volunteer with us and learn all about orchids!
Orchid conservation issues and efforts.
Groups and organizations who receive grants from OrchidMania.
Upcoming events and news in the orchid world.
Orchids now blooming at our greenhouse.
How you can help OrchidMania combat HIV/AIDS
Online references and other reading suggestions.

Copyright © 1989-2003 All rights reserved.
This page is maintained by Joseph Dougherty
| Send questions or comments to Joseph Dougherty

If you appreciate this site and the many resources dedicated to providing it... you can show your appreciation by supporting OrchidMania's nonprofit work. All donations are fully tax deductible. Thank you for helping us to help others.

 

 

Legal schmeagle (a.k.a. disclaimer and hold harmless clause):

This site is provided (as lamely written as it is) as a form of entertainment and none of the contents are warranted or guaranteed in any way. While we do our best to ensure the accuracy and dependability of all information published herein, the user (that's you) expressly acknowledges that this Web site is:

  • a) provided free of charge
  • b) run entirely by volunteers
  • c) not warranted in any manner
  • d) mostly written by an insomniac medical student at 2am (i.e. during his daily half hour of "free time") and thus prone to be peppered with gross -- as in "large and easily visualized," not "disgusting" -- errors
  • e) pretty cool and worth bookmarking, possibly even worth a donation as a show of support

 

OrchidMania, its officers, its donors, its vendors, its volunteers, its pets, its furniture, its plants, and all the gravel under the potting benches cannot be held in any way responsible for any outcome the user may experience due to reliance on information provided in this Web site. If the user becomes incurably addicted to orchids, that is entirely the fault of the Martian spacecraft that abducted you when you were 11 years old (don't you remember?) and all blame should be assigned to the Iraqi government, which is clearly responsible for all the world's ills (that's what Bush says, so it must be true, right? You're darn tootin').

The user (again, that's you) agrees to hold harmless all the aforementioned parties (except for the Martians, feel free to sue them) in every conceivable way for the user's actions as a result of reading, viewing, or in any other way accessing the information in this Web site (heck, if you want to take it in intravenously, we won't stop you). Additionally, you agree to hold us harmless if your spouse or partner prints out the pages of this Web site and then smacks you over the head with them, causing substantial cervical spine damage, as a result of your orchid spending spree at one of our fantastic donors (whom you should visit often and support by pouring your paycheck, despite the threats of your spouse or partner, into plant purchases -- orchids are worth the risk, dammit).

Additionally, the user acknowledges that we are a nonprofit organization... in other words, we're always broke and we're totally without any assets whatsoever that might make a lawsuit worth your time. Plus, its just your own damn fault that you forgot to take the plant out of the fertilizer bath on a night when the temperature dropped to 33 degrees and it rotted to a giant ball of ooze -- go buy another one, for Pete's sake, and quit your belly-achin'.

 

How you can help OrchidMania combat HIV/AIDS
How you can help OrchidMania combat HIV/AIDS
OrchidMania's "Orchids of the World"
Volunteer opportunities with OrchidMania
OrchidMania's orchid conservation efforts
Upcoming events and news in the orchid world.
Now blooming at the OrchidMania greenhouse.
How you can help OrchidMania combat HIV/AIDS
Online references, pollen and seed exchange, reading suggestions, and other resources