Cyrtosia Blume,
Bijdr. (1825) 396
Small leafless and stemless sympodial terrestrial plants with underground rhizome. Inflorescence usually a panicle. Flowers small, not resupinate, yellowish. Sepals free, outside with mealy surface. Petals free, about as long as the dorsal sepal, but lacking the characteristic indumentum. Lip without spur, not mobile. Column-foot absent. Pollinia united into a soft mealy mass, caudicles, stipe, or viscidium absent. Fruit fleshy, not opening when ripe.
Distribution
Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea. About 5 species; in New Guinea one, non-endemic, species [probably Cyrtosia javanica Blume].
Habitat
Terrestrial in montane forest.
Notes
Among the leafless terrestrial orchids Cyrtosia may be recognised by its erect, usually branching inflorescences in combination with the mealy outer surface of the sepals. The fleshy, non-dehiscent, banana-shaped fruits are also characteristic. It is not in cultivation