
Gastrodia

Gastrodia, commonly known as potato orchids or as 天麻属 (tian ma shu), is a genus of terrestrial leafless orchids in the family Orchidaceae, about ninety of which have been described. Orchids in this genus have fleshy, upright stems and small to medium-sized resupinate flowers with narrow sepals and petals. They are native to Asia (China, the Russian Far East, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent), Australia, New Zealand, central Africa, and various islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Description.
Orchids in the genus "Gastrodia" are leafless, terrestrial, mycotrophic herbs with a fleshy, underground rhizome and an upright flowering stem with a few to many brownish, resupinate flowers. The sepals and petals are fused to form a bell-shaped or irregular tube with the tips free. The petals are usually much smaller than the sepals and the labellum has three lobes and is fully enclosed in the tube.
Taxonomy.
The genus "Gastrodia" was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown and the description was published in "Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen". The type species is "Gastrodia sesamoides".
List of species.
The following is a list of species of "Gastrodia" recognised by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families as at July 2020:
- Taiwan
A paper published in March 2020 described a new species "Gastrodia gunatillekeorum" from Sri Lanka, but the name had not been assessed for inclusion in the above list as at July 2020.
"Gastrodia agnicellus" was discovered in Madagascar and was described in a paper published in November 2020.