Molecular phylogenetic analyses reveal multiple long-distance dispersal events and extensive cryptic speciation in (Orchidaceae), an isolated basal Epidendroid genus.

Introduction: The terrestrial orchid genus is diagnosed by its hysteranthous pattern of emergence but is nested among leafless myco-heterotrophic lineages in the lower Epidendroideae. Comprising ca. 80 species distributed across Africa, Asia and Oceania, the genus remains poorly known and plagued by vague and overlapping species circumscriptions, especially within each of a series of taxonomically intractable species complexes.