Herbs, terrestrial, lithophytic, and epiphytic, monopodial. Stems short, leafy, concealed by overlapping persistent leaf sheaths, rooting at base. Leaves persistent or sometimes deciduous, alternate, distichous, oblong to broadly elliptic, sometimes marbled or suffused with purple or silver, succulent. Inflorescences erect to laxly pendulous, axillary pedunculate racemes or panicles; peduncle terete; rachis terete or bilaterally compressed, rarely swollen relative to peduncle; floral bracts persistent, inconspicuous, succulent or papery. Flowers often fragrant, few to many, resupinate, produced simultaneously or in succession over time, often long-lasting, inconspicuous to showy, plain or variously spotted, marbled, or barred, membranous to thickly fleshy. Pedicel and ovary terete, slender, shallowly 6-sulcate. Sepals and petals free, spreading, subsimilar to dimorphic, lateral sepals usually oblique and larger than dorsal sepal. Lip 3-lobed, clawed, continuous with foot, sometimes saccate or subsaccate; lateral lobes erect and subparallel, often callose; mid-lobe oblong-elliptic to obtrullate, rarely transverse, apex sometimes with a pair of tendril-like appendages (cirri), sometimes pubescent to villous, callus uni-, bi-, or triseriate, longitudinal, rarely transverse; column stout, often subtended by a pair of fleshy kneelike protrusions, without wings, with a foot, usually dilated lateral to stigma. Pollinia 2 or 4, on a common spatulate stipe and viscidium. Capsule pedicellate.
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Small to large epiphytic orchids with sparsely branched, short stems (often just a single stem) and long, coarse roots. Leaves large, leathery, spreading to pendulous, widest towards apex. Racemes long, often sparsely branched inflorescences above half way or near apex, multiflowered. Flowers resupinate, small to large, widely opening, often flat, often colourful, long-lasting. Sepals and petals similar or petals much wider than sepals. Labellum joined stiffly to apex of column foot. Labellum lamina 3-lobed; lateral lobes large; midlobe with 2 prominent, antenna-like apical appendages. Column slender with well-developed basal foot. Pollinia 2, hard, waxy, orange, attached via broad, spathulate stipe to large viscidium.
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