{{Short description|Genus of orchids}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Phreatia nana - Hooker's Icones Plantarum vol. 21 pl. 2084 (1892).jpg | image_caption = Illustration of ''Phreatia nana'' (now known as ''Octarrhena parvula'') from Hooker's ''Icones Plantarum''<ref name="Hook.">{{cite book |last1=Hooker |first1=William J. |title=''Icones Plantarum'' |date=1892 |volume=21 |location=London |pages=2084 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/54445#page/180/mode/1up |access-date=17 June 2021}}</ref> | display_parents = 3 | taxon = Octarrhena | authority = Thwaites<ref name="WCSP">{{cite web |url=http://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=137169 |title=''Octarrhena'' |work=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew }}{{dead link|date=October 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> | type_species = ''Octarrhena parvula'' | type_species_authority = Thwaites | synonyms_ref = <ref name="WCSP"/> | synonyms = * ''Chitonanthera'' <small>Schltr. in K.M.Schumann & C.A.G.Lauterbach</small> * ''Vonroemeria'' <small>J.J.Sm.</small> * ''Kerigomnia'' <small>P.Royen</small> }}
'''''Octarrhena''''', commonly known as '''grub orchids''',<ref name="Jones">{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=David L.|title=A complete guide to native orchids of Australia including the island territories|date=2006|publisher=New Holland|location=Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.|isbn=1877069124|page =471}}</ref> is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Plants in this genus are small, orchids with short stems, thin roots, short, thick, fleshy leaves arranged in two ranks and tiny flowers. The labellum is rigidly attached to the base of the column. There are about fifty species native to areas from Sri Lanka and Malesia to the Western Pacific.
==Description== Orchids in the genus ''Octarrhena'' are small epiphytic, lithophytic or terrestrial herbs with thin roots and short stems with short, thick, fleshy leaves, their bases sheathing the stem. A large number of tiny, usually white, cream-coloured, yellowish or greenish flowers are arranged on a flowering stem arising from a leaf axil. The sepals and petals are free from each other, the petals usually much smaller than the sepals. The labellum is small, unlobed, rigidly fixed to the column and lacks a spur.<ref name="Jones" /><ref name="ATROK">{{cite web |author1=D.L.Jones |author2=T.Hopley |author3=S.M.Duffy |author1-link=David L. Jones (botanist) |year=2010 |access-date=28 May 2021 |url=http://www.canbr.gov.au/cpbr/cd-keys/RFKOrchids/key/rfkorchids/Media/Html/genera/Octarrhena.htm |title=''Octarrhena'' |website=Australian Tropical Rainforest Orchids |publisher=Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government}}</ref><ref name="ONG">{{cite web |title=Genus ''Octarrhena'' |url=http://www.orchidsnewguinea.com/orchid-information/genus/genuscode/98 |publisher=Orchids of New Guinea |access-date=16 January 2019}}</ref>
==Taxonomy and naming== The genus ''Octarrhena'' was first formally described in 1861 by George Henry Kendrick Thwaites who published the description in ''Enumeratio plantarum Zeylaniae''.<ref name="WCSP" /><ref name="Thwaites">{{cite book |last1=Thwaites |first1=George H.K. |title=Enumeratio plantarum Zeylaniae |date=1861 |publisher=Dulau & Co. |location=London |page=305 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/10372#page/312/mode/1up |access-date=16 January 2019}}</ref> The name ''Octarrhena'' is derived from the Ancient Greek words ''okto'' meaning "eight"<ref name="RWB">{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Roland Wilbur|title=The Composition of Scientific Words|date=1956|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref>{{rp|296}} and ''arrhen'' meaning "male" or "masculine",<ref name="RWB" />{{rp|509}} referring the eight free pollinia in the anther.<ref name="ATROK" />
===Species list=== The following is a list of species of ''Octarrhena'' recognised by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families as at January 2019:<ref name="WCSP" /> {{Div col}} * ''Octarrhena amesiana'' <small>Schltr.</small> * ''Octarrhena angraecoides'' <small>(Schltr.) Schltr.</small> * ''Octarrhena angustifolia'' <small>(Schltr.) Schuit.</small> * ''Octarrhena angustissima'' <small>(Schltr.) Schuit.</small> * ''Octarrhena aporoides'' <small>(Schltr.) Schuit.</small> * ''Octarrhena aristata'' <small>P.Royen</small> * ''Octarrhena bilabrata'' <small>(P.Royen) W.Kittr.</small> * ''Octarrhena brassii'' <small>(L.O.Williams) Schuit.</small> * ''Octarrhena calceiformis'' <small>(J.J.Sm.) P.Royen</small> * ''Octarrhena celebica'' <small>Schltr.</small> * ''Octarrhena cladophylax'' <small>(Rchb.f.) P.F.Hunt</small> * ''Octarrhena cordata'' <small>P.Royen</small> * ''Octarrhena cucullifera'' <small>J.J.Sm.</small> * ''Octarrhena cupulilabra'' <small>P.Royen</small> * ''Octarrhena cylindrica'' <small>J.J.Sm</small> * ''Octarrhena cymbiformis'' <small>J.J.Sm.</small> * ''Octarrhena elmeri'' <small>(Ames) Ames</small> * ''Octarrhena ensifolia'' <small>(Ames) Schltr.</small> * ''Octarrhena exigua'' <small>Schltr.</small> * ''Octarrhena falcifolia'' <small>(Schltr.) Schuit.</small> * ''Octarrhena filiformis'' <small>(L.O.Williams) P.Royen</small> ** ''Octarrhena filiformis'' var. ''brachyphylla'' <small>(L.O.Williams) P.Royen</small> ** ''Octarrhena filiformis'' var. ''filiformis'' ** ''Octarrhena filiformis'' var. ''glabra'' <small>P.Royen</small> * ''Octarrhena firmula'' <small>Schltr.</small> * ''Octarrhena gemmifera'' <small>Ames</small> * ''Octarrhena gibbosa'' <small>J.J.Sm.</small> * ''Octarrhena goliathensis'' <small>J.J.Sm.</small> * ''Octarrhena gracilis'' <small>(L.O.Williams) Schuit.</small> * ''Octarrhena hastipetala'' <small>J.J.Sm.</small> * ''Octarrhena latipetala'' <small>(J.J.Sm.) Schuit.</small> * ''Octarrhena lorentzii'' <small>J.J.Sm.</small> * ''Octarrhena macgregorii'' <small>(Schltr.) Schltr.</small> * ''Octarrhena mendumiana'' <small>Schuit. & de Vogel</small> * ''Octarrhena miniata'' <small>(Schltr.) Schltr.</small> * ''Octarrhena minuscula'' <small>Aver. & Duy</small> * ''Octarrhena oberonioides'' <small>(Schltr.) Schltr.</small> * ''Octarrhena obovata'' <small>(J.J.Sm.) P.Royen</small> * ''Octarrhena parvula'' <small>Thwaites</small> * ''Octarrhena platyrachis'' <small>P.Royen</small> * ''Octarrhena podochiloides'' <small>(Schltr.) Schuit.</small> * ''Octarrhena purpureiocellata'' <small>P.Royen</small> * ''Octarrhena pusilla'' <small>(F.M.Bailey) Dockrill</small> * ''Octarrhena reflexa'' <small>(J.J.Sm.) Schuit.</small> * ''Octarrhena saccolabioides'' <small>(Schltr.) Schltr.</small> * ''Octarrhena salmonea'' <small>P.Royen</small> * ''Octarrhena spathulata'' <small>(Schltr.) Schuit.</small> * ''Octarrhena tenuis'' <small>(J.J.Sm.) J.J.Sm.</small> * ''Octarrhena torricellensis'' <small>Schltr.</small>. * ''Octarrhena trigona'' <small>(J.J.Sm.) P.Royen</small> * ''Octarrhena umbellulata'' <small>Schltr.</small> * ''Octarrhena uniflora'' <small>Schuit. & de Vogel</small> * ''Octarrhena vanvuurenii'' <small>J.J.Sm.</small> * ''Octarrhena vitellina'' <small>(Ridl.) Schltr.</small> * ''Octarrhena wariana'' <small>Schltr.</small> {{Div col end}}
==Distribution== Orchids in the genus ''Octarrhena'' are found in Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Borneo, Java, Peninsular Malaysia, the Philippines, Sulawesi, Sumatra, the Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Queensland (Australia), Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and the Caroline Islands.<ref name="WCSP" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Wikispecies-inline}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1303490}}
Category:Octarrhena Category:Podochileae genera