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orchidaceous

orchidaceous


  1  definition  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Orchidaceous  \Or`chi*da"ceous\,  a.  (Bot.) 
  Pertaining  to  or  resembling,  a  natural  order 
  ({Orchidace[ae]})  of  endogenous  plants  of  which  the  genus 
  Orchis  is  the  type  They  are  mostly  perennial  herbs  having 
  the  stamens  and  pistils  united  in  a  single  column,  and 
  normally  three  petals  and  three  sepals,  all  adherent  to  the 
  ovary.  The  flowers  are  curiously  shaped,  often  resembling 
  insects,  the  odd  or  lower  petal  (called  the  lip)  being  unlike 
  the  others  and  sometimes  of  a  strange  and  unexpected 
  appearance.  About  one  hundred  species  occur  in  the  United 
  States,  but  several  thousand  in  the  tropics. 
 
  Note:  Over  three  hundred  genera  are  recognized.