Acriopsis Reins. ex Bl.

Acriopsis Liliifolia ( Koen.)

C.L Blume was the first to propose the genus properly in his Bijdragen of 1825, although Reinwardt had to catalog it in 1823. Many opinion have been expressed just where this genus should be placed in Orchid family, full details of this reasoning can be seen in orchid Monographs 1:1 ( 1986 ).

• Plants are epiphytic, their pseudobulbs consist of many internodes and are placed very close together,
• The roots usually extend upward to catch falling leaves etc.
• Inflorescences are branched or not, 
• The flowers are all relatively small,
• Their dorsal speak are free but the laterals are connate to form a boat-shaped syncopal,
• The lip is the most important part of the flower in determining the species.

Six species are at the present recognized, some of which have several varieties. Thailand has two non-endemic species, Peninsular Malaysia has five ( one endemic ), Java has two, Borneo has the most at six ( one endemic ), whilst Sumatra only has two, neither of which are endemic. "A. Indica Wight occurs over most of southeast Asia; sooner or later I would expect it to run up in Sumatra, but it seems that has not yet been collected from this island" (J.B.Comber, Orchid of Sumatra,2001) 

Acriopsis Reins. ex Bl. in Sumatra :

1. A. liliifolia
2. A. densiflora

Source: Orchid of Sumatra (J.B.Comber)

August 18, 2016