MORPHOLOGICAL DIVERSITY IN CYMBIDIUM ORCHIDS

Orchids constitute one of the largest families of flowering plants and are distributed throughout the world.The family Orchidaceae is divided into five subfamilies (Apostasioideae, Cypripedioideae, Vanilloideae, Orchidoideae, and Epidendroideae).The orchids are evergreen or deciduous herbaceous plants and show a wide range of diversity both in vegetative and reproductive characters for climatic and physiological adaptations.The present study was conducted using all vegetatively propagated 12 species and 30 hybrids of commercially grown orchid genus i.e., Cymbidium.Using 62 descriptors, morphological diversity of species and hybrids of Cymbidium was studied based upon the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) guidelines.Amongst different morphological descriptors, their diversity, diversity in shape of pseudobulbs and leaves, inflorescence variations, and floral characteristics were studied in detail.