Greek rhynchos – beak; stylos – column; an allusion to the beaked column of the type species.
Epiphytic herbs, monopodial. Stems short, thick, simple, lacking pseudobulbs. Leaves in 2 ranks, linear or strap-shaped, sheathing at base, notched at tip. Inflorescences axillary racemes, erect, arching or drooping. Flowers resupinate, many, crowded, white, with pink, blue, mauve or purple markings. Sepals similar, dorsal free, laterals fused to column foot. Petals similar to, or smaller and narrower than sepals. Labellum entire or 3-lobed, pouched or spurred at base, hairy, concave. Column short, stout, with a short foot. Pollinia 2, cleft, on a long slender stipe.
About 15 species from tropical Asia.
Many flowers in dense racemes; labellum pouched or with a backward-pointing spur at base.
Source: (2005). Orchidaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.