Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Orchidaceous \Or`chi*da"ceous\, a. (Bot.)
Pertaining to, or resembling, a natural order (Orchidaceae)
of endogenous plants of which the genus Orchis is the type.
They are mostly perennial herbs having the stamens and
pistils united in a single column, and normally three petals
and three sepals, all adherent to the ovary. The flowers are
curiously shaped, often resembling insects, the odd or lower
petal (called the lip) being unlike the others, and sometimes
of a strange and unexpected appearance. About one hundred
species occur in the United States, but several thousand in
the tropics.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Over three hundred genera are recognized.
[1913 Webster]
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