Orthochilus foliosus

Orthochilus foliosus is available in the horticultural market, often grown from seed. The plant grows annually from an underground rhizome that resembles a string of beads (moniliform).

The old name for this plant, Eulophia foliosa, is still used. The name change was prompted by phylogenetic research that brought about the splitting of the Eulophia genus, resulting in two monophyletic groupings.

Monophyletic means that all plants in every group should descend from a common evolutionary ancestor or ancestral group, not shared with any other group. Way back similar looking plants were sometimes grouped together taxonomically, prior to the genetic investigations that could scientifically prove features of the plants’ family trees.

Since the oldest available name around the newly separated group was Orthochilus, this old name was reinstated for the separated genus. It is differentiated from Eulophia by its petals and sepals being quite similar in shape, size and colour. Perianths of Orthochilus flowers are also more or less bell-shaped (Wikipedia; Germishuizen and Fabian, 1982; www.zimbabweflowers.co.zw).