[Anagram, for Thomas Smith, English microscopist, died ca. 1825]

Plants perennial, mycotrophic, not green. Rhizomes absent. Roots horizontal, stoutly terete. Stems unbranched, very short. Leaves cauline, bractlike, white. Inflorescences solitary flowers; floral bracts imbricate. Flowers erect, neither ribbed nor winged; perianth caducous in fruit; annulus present in perianth throat immediately proximal to lobes; stamens 6, pendent, forming ring proximal to annulus; ovary 1-locular; placentation parietal; pedicel absent. Capsules cup-shaped; dehiscence irregular by breaking down of wall.

Species ca. 32 (1 in the flora): non-North American species mostly pantropical.

Lower Taxon

• Thismia americana N. Pfeiffer