Pachites
Pachites
Genus of flowering plants belonging to the orchid family
Pachites is a genus of flowering plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It contains two known species, both endemic to South Africa.[1][2] One of these, Pachites appressus, is very rare.[3]
Pachites was named by John Lindley in 1835.[4][5] The name is derived from the Greek word pachys, meaning "thick, stout", and refers to the rostellum.[6]
In Genera Orchidacearum volume 2, Pachites and Satyrium constitute the subtribe Satyriinae of the tribe Diseae.[7] After that work was published in 2001, molecular phylogenetic studies showed that Pachites does not form a clade with Satyrium.[8] Instead, Pachites occupies a basal position in Diseae.[3] In spite of the papers published in 2008 and 2009, uncertainties remain over the exact relationships of Pachites to other genera. In a classification of orchids that was published in 2015, Pachites, Disa, and Huttonaea constitute the subtribe Disinae of the tribe Orchideae.[9] This circumscription of Disinae, however, was done provisionally, to avoid creating new subtribes before further studies could determine, with increased certainty, the true affinities of these three genera.