Search the Dictionary

Pertaining to, or resembling, a natural order (Orchidaceæ) of endogenous plants of which the genus Orchis is the type. They are mostly perennial herbs having the stamens and pistils united in a single column, and normally three petals and three sepals, all adherent to the ovary. The flowers are curiously shaped, often…

oneybee, as the European flycatcher, and the American kingbird. -- Bee flower (Bot.), an orchidaceous plant of the genus Ophrys (O. apifera), whose flowers have some resemblance to bees, flies, and other insects. -- Bee fly (Zoöl.), a two winged fly of the family Bombyliidæ. Some species, in the larval state, are par…

A slender, elastic process, to which the masses of pollen in orchidaceous plants are attached.

A genus of orchidaceous plants including the lady's slipper.

The lower or apparently anterior petal of an orchidaceous flower, often of a very curious shape.

Any orchidaceous plant of the genus Cypripedium, the labellum of which resembles a slipper. Less commonly, in the United States, the garden balsam (Impatiens Balsamina).

A name given to several species of the orchidaceous genus Spiranthes, in which the white flowers are set in spirals about a slender axis and remotely resemble braided hair.

The odd and peculiar petal in the Orchis family. See Orchidaceous.

A genus of tropical orchidaceous plants, the flower of one species of which (O. Papilio) resembles a butterfly.

Any plant of the order Orchidaceæ. See Orchidaceous.

Orchidaceous.

Same as Orchidaceous.

is usually found the last year's tuber also), and are valued for their showy flowers. See Orchidaceous.

A genus of orchidaceous plants. See Dove plant.

nt (Heteranthera reniformis), having broad, reniform leaves. -- Rattlesnake plantain, an orchidaceous plant (Goodyera pubescens), with the leaves blotched and spotted with white. -- Ribwort plantain. See Ribwort. -- Robin's plantain, the Erigeron bellidifolium, a common daisylike plant of North America. -- Water pl…

An aërial corm, or thickened stem, as of some epiphytic orchidaceous plants.

An American orchidaceous plant (Aplectrum hyemale) which flowers in early summer. Its slender naked rootstock produces each year a solid corm, filled with exceedingly glutinous matter, which sends up later a single large oval evergreen plaited leaf. Called also Adam-and-Eve.

s, having very long legs and a long prehensile tail. -- Spider orchis (Bot.), a European orchidaceous plant (Ophrys aranifera), having flowers which resemble spiders. -- Spider shell (Zoöl.), any shell of the genus Pteroceras. See Pteroceras.

Any one of several orchidaceous plants which have only two leaves, as the species of Listera and of Liparis. [Written also twyblade.]

A genus of climbing orchidaceous plants natives of tropical America.