Cheirostylis
Introduction '''''Cheirostylis''''', commonly known as '''fleshy jewel orchids''' or '''velvet orchids''', is a genus of about sixty species of flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae. Plants in this genus are terrestrial herbs with a caterpillar-like rhizome and a loose rosette of leaves. Small, white, hairy flowers develop as the leaves wither. They are found in tropical Africa, southern Asia, Southeast Asia, Malesia, New Guinea and Australia.
Description Orchids in the genus ''Cheirostylis'' are terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, sympodial herbs with a creeping, caterpillar-like, above-ground rhizome anchored to the ground by fine white root hairs. The leaves are thinly textured and arranged in a loose rosette with a short petiole but are usually withered by flowering time. The flowers are resupinate and usually small, white and hairy with the dorsal sepal and lateral sepals fused for about half their length. The petals are free from each other but are narrower than the sepals. The tip of the labellum has two lobes and a narrow base forming a shallow depression containing two calli.
Taxonomy and naming The genus ''Cheirostylis'' was first formally described in 1825 by Carl Ludwig Blume and the description was published in ''Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië''.The first species of ''Cheirostylis'' described by Blume was ''C. montana'', making it the type species.
Distribution ''Cheirostylis'' orchids occur in tropical Africa through tropical Asia from Japan to New Guinea and some Pacific Islands. Seventeen species, eight of which are endemic occur in China and two species are endemic to Australia.===List of species===The following is a list of species recognised by the Plants of the World Online as at November 2023:* ''Cheirostylis acuminata'' Blume* ''Cheirostylis barbata'' Q.Liu & X.F.Wu* ''Cheirostylis bidentata'' J.J.Sm. * ''Cheirostylis bipunctata'' Aver. * ''Cheirostylis boryi'' (Rchb.f.) Hermans & P.J.Cribb* ''Cheirostylis calcarata'' X.H.Jin & S.C.Chen* ''Cheirostylis celebensis'' P.O'Byrne & J.J.Verm. * ''Cheirostylis chinensis'' Rolfe* ''Cheirostylis chuxiongensis'' J.D.Ya* ''Cheirostylis clibborndyeri'' S.Y.Hu & Baretto* ''Cheirostylis cochinchinensis'' Blume* ''Cheirostylis cristata'' Aver. * ''Cheirostylis dendrophila'' Schltr. * ''Cheirostylis divina'' (Guinea)  Summerh. * ''Cheirostylis filipetala'' Aver. * ''Cheirostylis flabellata'' (A.Rich.) Wight* ''Cheirostylis foliosa'' Aver. * ''Cheirostylis glandulifera'' Aver. * ''Cheirostylis glandulosa'' (Aver.) J.M.H.Shaw* ''Cheirostylis goldschmidtiana'' Schltr. * ''Cheirostylis grandiflora'' Blume* ''Cheirostylis griffithii''  Lindl. * ''Cheirostylis gunnarii'' A.N.Rao* ''Cheirostylis gymnochiloides'' (Ridl.) Rchb.f. * ''Cheirostylis jamesleungii'' S.Y.Hu & Barretto* ''Cheirostylis javanica'' J.J.Sm. * ''Cheirostylis kabaenae'' Ormerod* ''Cheirostylis latipetala'' Aver. & Averyanova* ''Cheirostylis lepida'' (Rchb.f.) Rolfe* ''Cheirostylis liukiuensis'' Masam. * ''Cheirostylis malipoensis'' X.H.Jin & S.C.Chen* ''Cheirostylis marmorifolia'' Aver. * ''Cheirostylis merrillii'' (Ames & Quisumb.) Ormerod* ''Cheirostylis moniliformis'' (Griff.) Seidenf. * ''Cheirostylis montana'' Blume * ''Cheirostylis monteiroi'' S.Y.Hu & Barretto* ''Cheirostylis nantouensis'' T.P.Lin* ''Cheirostylis notialis'' D.L.Jones – southern fleshy jewel orchid* ''Cheirostylis nuda'' (Thouars) Ormerod* ''Cheirostylis octodactyla'' Ames* ''Cheirostylis orobanchoides'' (F.Muell.) D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem. * ''Cheirostylis ovata'' (F.M.Bailey) Schltr. – banded fleshy jewel orchid* ''Cheirostylis parvifolia'' Lindl. * ''Cheirostylis pingbianensis'' K.Y.Lang* ''Cheirostylis pubescens'' E.C.Parish & Rchb.f. * ''Cheirostylis pusilla'' Lindl. * ''Cheirostylis raymundii'' Schltr. * ''Cheirostylis serpens'' Aver. * ''Cheirostylis sessanica'' A.N.Rao* ''Cheirostylis sherriffii'' N.Pearce & P.J.Cribb* ''Cheirostylis spathulata'' J.J.Sm. * ''Cheirostylis tabiyahanensis'' (Hayata) N.Pearce & P.J.Cribb* ''Cheirostylis takeoi'' (Hayata) Schltr. * ''Cheirostylis thailandica'' Seidenf. * ''Cheirostylis thanmoiensis'' (Gagnep.) Ormerod* ''Cheirostylis tippica'' A.N.Rao* ''Cheirostylis tortilacinia'' C.S.Leou* ''Cheirostylis wenshanensis'' J.B.Chen, L.J.Chen & W.H.Rao* ''Cheirostylis yei'' J.D.Ya, Z.D.Han & H.Jiang* ''Cheirostylis yunnanensis'' Rolfe
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