Rhynchostylis retusa(L.) Blume

Foxtail orchid

WFO wfo-0000296590 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Rhynchostylis retusa, photographed by Abhinav Thakur
fig. a Abhinav Thakur, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-05 / obs. 203444374
Rhynchostylis retusa, photographed by মহা বিদ্রোহী BUT রণ ক্লান্ত
fig. b মহা বিদ্রোহী BUT রণ ক্লান্ত, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 129588155
Rhynchostylis retusa, photographed by S.MORE
fig. c S.MORE, CC0 1.0 / obs. 92785334
Rhynchostylis retusa, photographed by Dinesh Valke
fig. d Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 128791345
Rhynchostylis retusa, photographed by Dinesh Valke
fig. e Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 195860342
Rhynchostylis retusa, photographed by Dinesh Valke
fig. f Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 123349107
Rhynchostylis retusa, photographed by Dinesh Valke
fig. g Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 122027638
Rhynchostylis retusa, photographed by Rejoice Gassah
fig. h Rejoice Gassah, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 76648771

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 20 botanical countries

Regions where Rhynchostylis retusa is native: China South-Central, Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicobar Is., Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya China South-CentralAssamBangladeshBorneoCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosMalayaMyanmarNepalPhilippinesSri LankaSumateraThailandVietnamWest Himalaya Andaman Is.Nicobar Is.
Native distribution of Rhynchostylis retusa, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Bangladesh BAN
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Malaya MLY
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
Nicobar Is. NCB
Philippines PHI
Sri Lanka SRL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 37 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Aerides guttata (Lindl.) Roxb.
  • Aerides praemorsa Willd.
  • Aerides retusa (L.) Sw.
  • Aerides spicata D.Don
  • Aerides undulata Sm.
  • Aerides undulatum Sm.
  • Epidendrum hippium Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don
  • Epidendrum indicum Poir.
  • Epidendrum retusum L.
  • Gastrochilus blumei (Lindl.) Kuntze
  • Gastrochilus garwalicus (Lindl.) Kuntze
  • Gastrochilus retusus Kuntze
  • Gastrochilus retusus (L.) Kuntze
  • Gastrochilus rheedei (Wight) Kuntze
  • Gastrochilus spicatus (D.Don) Kuntze
  • Limodorum retusum (L.) Sw.
  • Orchis lanigera Blanco
  • Rhynchostylis albiflora I.Barua & Bora
  • Rhynchostylis gurwalica (Lindl.) Rchb.f.
  • Rhynchostylis guttata (Lindl.) Rchb.f.
  • Rhynchostylis praemorsa (Willd.) Blume
  • Rhynchostylis retusa f. albiflora (I.Barua & Bora) Christenson
  • Saccolabium blumei Lindl.
  • Saccolabium blumei var. majus F.Buyss.

and 13 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.