Orchidaceae

American  

[awr-ki-dey-see-ee] / ˌɔr kɪˈdeɪ siˌi /

plural noun

Botany.

1. orchid family.

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Etymology

Origin of Orchidaceae

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

One in five plant species on the list is an orchid, and, with 2,856 species, the Orchidaceae family is more diverse than the next seven-largest plant families combined.

From Nature • Aug. 4, 2020

The Orchidaceae are a family of perennial plants with one fertile stamen and three-petalled flowers that, depending on the species, can be anything from pale specks to voluptuous masses.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 15, 1995

Of the herbaceous vegetation of the more rainy regions may be noted the Orchidaceae, Orontiaceae, Scitamineae, with ferns and other 746 Cryptogams, besides Gramineae and Cyperaceae.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" by Various

The principal orders, arranged according to their numerical importance, are as follows:—Leguminosae, Rubiaceae, Orchidaceae, Compositae, Gramineae, Euphorbiaceae, Acanthaceae, Cyperaceae and Labiatae.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" by Various

But, indeed, your own discovery of the independent germinative capabilities of the pollen-grains of certain Orchidaceae is sufficiently illustrative of this.

From More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 2 by Darwin, Francis, Sir