单花组 dan hua zu

Diphyes sect. Monanthes Blume, Bijdr. 311. 1825.

Rhizome creeping; roots sprouting mainly below pseudobulbs, spreading; new shoots arising from basal node of pseudobulb. Pseudobulbs distinct, apex with 1 leaf. Leaves persistent, thin to thick. Inflorescences solitary, or clustered on a lateral sympodium, arising near pseudobulbs, 1-flowered. Pedicel with basal node ± coinciding with attachment of subtending bract. Sepals free [lateral sepals often fused along lower margin in extralimital species], ± equally long, margins glabrous, 3-veined. Petals: margins ± glabrous, 1-veined; lip: margins without retrorse auricles on each side of ligament [these often present in extralimital species], with lateral lobes higher up along margins, margins otherwise ± glabrous, adaxially glabrous. Column: stigma not protruding at its base, foot distinct; anther: front margin not or slightly projecting, abaxially with a rounded crest; pollinia 4, inner ca. 1/2 as long as outer, all without appendages.

One hundred and twenty-two provisionally accepted species: Himalayas to W Pacific; one species in China.