Gastrodia
genus of plants
Gastrodia, commonly known as potato orchids, is a genus of terrestrial leafless orchids in the family Orchidaceae, about ninety of which have been described. Orchids in this genus have fleshy, upright stems and small to medium-sized resupinate flowers with narrow sepals and petals. They are native to Asia (China, the Russian Far East, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent), Australia, New Zealand, central Africa, and various islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Description
Orchids in the genus Gastrodia are leafless, terrestrial, mycotrophic herbs with a fleshy, underground rhizome and an upright flowering stem with a few to many brownish, resupinate flowers. The sepals and petals are fused to form a bell-shaped or irregular tube with the tips free. The petals are usually much smaller than the sepals and the labellum has three lobes and is fully enclosed in the tube.
Taxonomy
The genus Gastrodia was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown and the description was published in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen. The type species is Gastrodia sesamoides.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Gastrodia” as genus of plants. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as genus of plants. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q133278. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1810.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.
- Current terminology
- Classification context
- Finding cited technical literature
Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Gastrodia”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Gastrodia primary sources, Gastrodia archive and Gastrodia research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Gastrodia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.