Podochilus Blume,
Bijdr. (1825) 295
Small sympodial epiphytes with very short rhizomes. Stem elongated, not fleshy, many-leaved, branching or not. Leaves sheathing at the base, arranged in two rows, glabrous, dorso-ventrally flattened or laterally compressed, deciduous or not, duplicate, usually less than 1 cm long, stiffly thin-textured to carnose. Inflorescence terminal, sometimes lateral as well, a few- to several-flowered raceme or carrying a single flower. Flowers usually opening in succession, very small, resupinate, often hardly opening, usually whitish with purple spots at the apex. Lateral sepals connate at the base, forming a mentum, sometimes also the dorsal sepal connate with the lateral sepals. Petals free, usually narrower than the dorsal sepal. Lip without spur, not mobile. Column-foot present. Pollinia 4, solid, enveloped in tubular sheaths, caudicles absent, stipe absent, viscidium present.
Distribution
Tropical Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Australia. About 60 species; in New Guinea about 15 species.
Habitat
Epiphytes in evergreen lowland forest.
Notes
Related to Appendicula, differs in that there are 4 instead of 6 pollinia. The tiny whitish flowers are even smaller than those in the former, already small-flowered genus. These often moss-like epiphytes are rarely cultivated.
Key to the sections of Podochilus
1a Leaves laterally compressed, not articulated with the leaf-sheath ... section Sarganella (not in New Guinea)
1b Leaves laterally compressed or dorso-ventrally flattened, articulated with the leaf-sheath ... 2
2a Pollinia with a single viscidium ... section Podochilus (synonym: sect. Apista)
2b Pollinia with two viscidia ... section Diadena