Orchidaceous

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Orchidaceous \Or`chi*da"ceous\, a. (Bot.)
     Pertaining to, or resembling, a natural order ({Orchidaceae})
     of endogenous plants of which the genus {Orchis} is the type.
     They are mostly perennial herbs having the stamens and
     pistils united in a single column, and normally three petals
     and three sepals, all adherent to the ovary. The flowers are


     curiously shaped, often resembling insects, the odd or lower
     petal (called the lip) being unlike the others, and sometimes
     of a strange and unexpected appearance. About one hundred
     species occur in the United States, but several thousand in
     the tropics.
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     Note: Over three hundred genera are recognized.
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