This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(May 2021)
This is a list of genera in the orchid family (
Orchidaceae), originally according to
The Families of Flowering Plants - L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz. This list is adapted regularly with the changes published in the Orchid Research Newsletter which is published twice a year by the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The most up to date list of accepted; genera, natural nothogenera, species and natural nothospecies with their synonyms can be found on the World Checklist of Selected Plants Families
Search Page published by the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. This list is reflected on Wikispecies
Orchidaceae and the new eMonocot website
Orchidaceae Juss.
This
taxonomy undergoes constant change, mainly through evidence from
DNA study. Orchids were traditionally defined by morphological similarity (structure of their flowers and other parts). However, recent changes to nomenclature have been driven primarily by
DNA studies and also by re-examination of herbarium specimens. This has led to a reduction of genera and species as well as re-circumscription of subfamilies,
tribes and
subtribes. Orchid taxonomy is still being revised and each year about another 150 new species are being discovered. The list of genera alone currently stands just short of 1000 entries.
From a
cladistic point of view, the orchid family is considered to be
monophyletic, i.e. the group incorporates all the taxa derived from an ancestral group.