Hetaeria

Hetaeria, commonly known as hairy jewel orchids, is a genus of about thirty species of flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae. Plants in this genus are terrestrial herbs with a succulent rhizome and a loose rosette of leaves. Small, pale, hairy non-resupinate flowers are borne on a thin, hairy flowering stem. They are found in tropical Africa and Asia to New Guinea, Australia and some Pacific Islands.

==Description== Orchids in the genus Hetaeria are terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, sympodial herbs with a creeping, succulent, above-ground rhizome anchored to the ground by wiry roots. The leaves are dark green, usually narrow, thin-textured and arranged in a loose rosette with a short petiole-like base, the lower leaves usually withered by flowering time. The flowers are non-resupinate and usually small, dull-coloured and hairy with the dorsal sepal and petals joined to form a hood over the column. The labellum is glabrous and has a deep pouch near its base.