少花微球组 shao hua wei qiu zu

Diphyes sect. Stachysanthes Blume, Bijdr. 312. 1825.

Rhizome creeping or straggling; roots sprouting mainly below pseudobulbs, spreading; new shoots arising from basal node of pseudobulb. Pseudobulbs inconspicuous compared to size of plant, apex with 1 leaf. Leaves persistent, thick. Inflorescence solitary, mostly arising near pseudobulbs, 1-flowered, or an elongate or contracted 2- or 3-flowered raceme. Pedicel with basal node ± coinciding with attachment of subtending bract. Sepals free, ± equally long, margins glabrous, 3-veined. Petals: margins glabrous, to erose or denticulate, 1-veined; lip: margins without auricles or lateral lobes, margins ± glabrous to papillose, adaxially glabrous. Column: stigma protruding at its base or not, foot very distinct to short; anther: front margin projecting or not, abaxially with or without a low, rounded crest; pollinia 2 or 4, inner ca. 1/2 as long as outer or smaller, all usually without appendages.

Seventy-two provisionally accepted species: India to W Pacific; five species (three endemic) in China.