Tainia


Tainia, commonly known as ribbon orchids or 带唇兰属 is a genus of about thirty species of evergreen, terrestrial orchids in the distributed from India, China, Japan, Southeast Asia to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Queensland.

Description

Orchids in the genus Tainia are evergreen, terrestrial herbaceous plants with upright, crowded, thin fleshy pseudobulbs. Each pseudobulb has a single, smooth or pleated leaf. The flower stalk emerges from the pseudobulb on the top of a leafless shoot and bears resupinate yellowish, brownish, red or purple small to moderately large flowers. The sepals and petals are similar in size and shape to each other and several flowers open simultaneously. The labellum is sometimes lobed but always has prominent ridges on its upper surface.

Taxonomy and naming

The genus Tainia was first formally described in 1825 by Carl Ludwig Blume who published the description in Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië. The name Tainia is an Ancient Greek word meaning "ribbon", "fillet", "band" or "stripe" but Blume's reason for giving this name is not known.

Species list

The following is a list of the species of Tainia currently accepted by Plants of [the World Online] as of November 2023:
Orchids in the genus Tainia grow in high rainfall, shady forests. They are found in Sri Lanka, India and Japan, then south from Myanmar to New Guinea, Australia and some Pacific Islands. Thirteen species, of which two are endemic are found in China. The only Australian species, T. trinervis also occurs in New Guinea and some Pacific Islands.