Pholidota Lindl. ex Hook.,
Exot. Fl. 2 (1825) t. 138
Sympodial epiphytic or rarely terrestrial plants with very short to elongated rhizomes. Pseudobulbs consisting of one internode. Leaves 1 or 2, not sheathing at the base, glabrous, plicate or not, deciduous, convolute, thin-textured but stiff or distinctly leathery. Inflorescence basal (heteranthous) or terminal (synanthous or hysteranthous), a few- to many-flowered raceme. Flowers small to medium-sized, resupinate. Sepals free. Petals free, sometimes similar to the sepals, but more often distinctly narrower. Lip without spur, not mobile, divided into a cup-like basal part without lateral lobes, and a flat or recurved apical part. Column at the apex flattened, more or less hood-like; column-foot very short or absent. Pollinia 4, solid, caudicles present, stipe present or not, viscidium absent.
Distribution
Tropical continental Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Pacific islands, east to Tahiti; about 28 species.
Distribution in the Philippines
Luzon (Mt. Province, Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Bataan, Bulacan, Rizal, Sorsogon), Polillo, Palawan, Panay, Negros, Leyte, Samar, Mindanao (Zamboanga, Lanao, Bukidnon, Agusan, Davao), Basilan, Sulu; 4 species.
Habitat
Epiphytic in lowland and montane forest, predominantly in the mountains; also on rocks and steep mossy slopes.
Notes
Closely related to Coelogyne, but with generally much less showy flowers with a characteristic lip, which has a cup-shaped basal part. Occasionally cultivated.