Dilochia Lindl.,
Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl. (1830) 38
Sympodial terrestrial or sometimes epiphytic plants with very short rhizomes. Stem slender, often very tall, not branching, not fleshy, many-leaved. Leaves sheathing at the base, distichous, glabrous, deciduous, convolute, thin-textured but rather stiff. Inflorescence terminal, a raceme or a panicle, sometimes carrying a single flower, arising from a mature stem. Flowers medium-sized to rather large, resupinate, fairly showy. Sepals free. Petals similar to the lateral sepals or somewhat narrower. Lip without spur, not mobile. Column-foot absent. Pollinia 8, solid, caudicles present, stipe absent, viscidium absent.
Distribution
Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea; about 6 species.
Distribution in the Philippines
Luzon (Rizal, Albay), Leyte, Samar, Mindanao (Surigao, Davao); 1 species [Dilochia elmeri Ames].
Habitat
Usually terrestrial in shrubby and swampy vegetation on poor soil, also epiphytic on tall trees, in the lowlands as well as in the mountains.
Notes
A genus of orchids with reed-like stems, related to Arundina, but the flowers, at least in the Philippine species, do not have a lip that envelopes the column; in addition, the flowers of Dilochia are not produced in succession, and they last longer. This genus is rarely cultivated.