Glomera Blume,
Bijdr. (1825) 372
Sympodial epiphytic or terrestrial plants. Stem elongated, often branching. Leaves many, sheathing at the base, sheath hairy or not, often more or less warty, margins often fimbriate-laciniate, blade glabrous, dorso-ventrally flattened, sometimes almost terete, articulate, duplicate, stiffly thin-textured to carnose. Inflorescence terminal, a raceme or carrying a single flower. Flowers small to rather large, resupinate or not, variously coloured but predominantly white, the lip often with a conspicuous blackish, red, green or yellow spot near the apex. Lateral sepals, and sometimes also the dorsal sepal connate at the base. Petals free, often fairly similar to the dorsal sepal, but sometimes distinctly broader, rarely narrower. Lip adnate to the column, spurred, not mobile. Column-foot present or absent. Pollinia 4, solid-waxy, caudicles present, stipe absent, viscidium present or absent.
Distribution
Thailand, Java, East Malesia, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, east to Samoa; about 100 species.
Distribution in the Philippines
Mindanao (Zamboanga); 1 species [Glomera merrillii Ames].
Habitat
Epiphyte in lowland forest in shady ravines.
Notes
A genus of orchids with reed-like stems and terminal 'heads' of small, usually white flowers, often with a contrasting red, yellow or black tip to the lip. It is often confused with Agrostophyllum, but in that genus there are 8 instead of 4 pollinia, while the terminal head consists of several separate 1- or few-flowered inflorescences instead of a single one. Glomera has its centre of diversity in New Guinea.