Didymoplexis Griff.,
Calcutta J. Nat. Hist. 4 (1844) 383, t. 17
Leafless terrestrial plants lacking chlorophyll. Inflorescence a few- to many-flowered raceme arising from a tuber-like underground rhizome. Flowers opening in succession, small, resupinate, usually brownish or whitish. Sepals and petals all mutually connate for at least half their length, except that the lateral sepals are only at the base connate with the petals. Petals not much smaller than the dorsal sepal. Lip without spur, not mobile. Stigma situated near the apex of the column. Column-foot present. Pollinia 4, mealy, caudicles absent, stipe absent, viscidium present.
Distribution
Southern and East Africa, Madagascar, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Pacific islands, east to Samoa; about 10 species.
Distribution in the Philippines
Luzon (Pampanga, Rizal, Laguna, Camarines), Palawan, Leyte; 2 species.
Habitat
Terrestrial in lowland rainforest, sometimes in or near dense clumps of bamboo.
Notes
This genus conists of leafless and achlorophyllous terrestrials with pale flesh-coloured stems and whitish, cup-shaped flowers. It is often confused with Gastrodia, but in Didymoplexis the lateral sepals are almost free from the petals, while in Gastrodia the lateral sepals are broadly adnate to the petals. It is not in cultivation, but may sometimes occur spontaneously in botanical gardens in the region.