Erect or pendulous, epiphytic or infrequently terrestrial herbs with short, foliaceous stems, most frequently thickened into conspicuous, more or less ancipitous, 1-to 2 (rarely more)-leaved pseudobulbs, the bases enveloped in several papery or foliaceous bracts, or less frequently with the pseudobulbs very short, rudimentary, cylindric, subconic, or complanate-cylindric, enveloped in several papery sheaths, or the plants rarely with many distichously equitant leaves and entirely without pseudobulbs. Leaves subcoriaceous, coriaceous or fleshy, equitant, flat, terete or triangular. Inflorescences usually 1 or 2 short or elongate, often flexuose, erect, arching or laxly pendulous, branching panicles, simple racemes, or 1-flowered scapes produced from the lateral bases of the pseudobulbs, or in the equitant-leaved species from the axils of the leaves. Flowers often large and conspicuous, usually yellow or brown. Sepals usually subequal, spreading or reflexed, free, or the laterals somewhat connate rarely nearly to the apex, the dorsal sepal rarely much longer and narrower than the laterals. Petals subequal to the dorsal sepal or sometimes larger. Lip usually 3-lobed, often pandurate, rarely nearly entire, the base shortly clawed or sessile and adnate to the base of the column, usually forming a right-angle with it, the lateral lobes porrect, spreading or reflexed, sometimes obsolete, the central portion of the lip usually with an isthmus, the mid-lobe spreading, usually very broad and transversely dilated, rarely narrow, often emarginate or bifid, the disk usually conspicuously cristate or tuberculate. Column usually short, stout, the lateral margins near the stigma with or without auriculate or petaloid projections, the clinandrium very short and truncate or ovate and obliquely erect, entire or with the apex shortly bidentate, the base footless or sometimes apparently with a short foot, rarely produced into a prominent, erect, horn-like process. Anther terminal, operculate, incumbent, strongly convex, semiglobose or cucullate, 1-celled, imperfectly or rarely 2-celled; pollinia 2, usually deeply sulcate, waxy.
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Herbs, epiphytic or terrestrial, ± cespitose. Stems pseudobulbs, green, ovoid. Leaves persistent, 1–3, not recurved; blade conduplicate, linear-lanceolate, dorsiventrally flattened, margins entire. Inflorescences paniculate racemes, lateral branches to 10[–42] cm; bracts narrowly triangular. Flowers resupinate; sepals and petals distinct and free, oblong-elliptic, obovate to nearly quadrangular or nearly circular, apex retuse to obtuse, sometimes apiculate; lip pandurate, 3-lobed; callus prominent warty-tuberculate-fringed; column with wings, arms, or fingerlike projections; stigmatic cavity ± round; rostellum not prominent. Fruits capsules.
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