Family Orchidaceae
	a	Plants epiphytic, epilithic or terrestrial, rarely lianas, frequently with corms or pseudobulbs but not with root tubers Leaves thin and soft, leathery or succulent Anther incumbent or rarely suberect, operculate Pollinia soft-mealy, sectile or hard and waxy	Subfamily Epidendroideae (005)
	b	Plants terrestrial without pseudobulbs or corms, frequently with root tubers Very rarely growing on trees or rocks but then always having fleshy root tubers Leaves thin and soft, deciduous Anther erect, horizontally reflexed or pendent, not incumbent and not operculate Pollinia almost always sectile

	a	Anther erect and subequal to rostellum Plants terrestrial or occasionally epiphytic, without root tubers	Subfamily Spiranthoideae (003)
	b	Anther erect, horizontally reflexed or pendent and rostellum much shorter than anther Root tubers almost always present Plants terrestrial or rarely epiphytic	Subfamily Orchidoideae (004)

Subfamily Spiranthoideae
	a	Leaves convolute, soft-herbaceous, often arranged ± rosette-like Inflorescence terminal	Tribe Cranichideae (013)
	b	Leaves plicate Stems reed-like Inflorescences lateral or terminal	Tribe Tropidieae Corymborkis

Subfamily Orchidoideae
	a	Anther horizontally reflexed or pendent Very rarely secondarily erect or suberect but then either median sepal spurred and large lip appendage present or petals clawed and fimbriate	Tribe Diseae (015)
	b	Anther erect or suberect Median sepal unspurred Petals not clawed and fimbriate Lip often spurred, always without large appendage	Tribe Orchideae (025)

Subfamily Epidendroideae
	a	Pollinia soft and mealy or sectile
	b	Pollinia firm or hard, not sectile

	a	Pollinia 8, soft, but clearly defined	Tribe Arethuseae Calanthe
	b	Pollinia 2 and sectile, or mealy and ill-defined

	a	Terrestrial plants with 1 green leaf that develops after the flowers Plants arising from subterraneous tubers Pollinia 2, sectile	Tribe Nervilieae Nervilia
	b	Plants not as above

	a	Saprophytes Pollinia 2, sectile	Tribe Gastrodieae (039)
	b	Lianas with green stems Pollinia soft and mealy	Tribe Vanilleae Vanilla

	a	Pollinia naked, without caudicles and stipes, sometimes with viscidia
	b	Pollinia with caudicles, often with viscidia and stipes

	a	Inflorescence terminal Plants with or without pseudobulbs, terrestrial or epiphytic	Tribe Malaxideae (040)
	b	Inflorescence lateral Plants with pseudobulbs, epiphytic	Tribe Dendrobieae Bulbophyllum

	a	Plants monopodial	Tribe Vandeae (041)
	b	Plants sympodial

	a	Plants mostly terrestrial If epiphytic then with long fusiform leafy pseudobulbs and large yellow resupinate flowers with brown blotches	Tribe Cymbidieae (036)
	b	Plants always epiphytic Flowers small to medium-sized and not resupinate	Tribe Epidendreae Polystachya

Tribe Cranichideae
	a	Stems erect, median sepal and petals connivent to form hood Flowers almost hidden by floral bracts In our area recorded only from Botswana and Durban (KwaZulu-Natal)	Zeuxine
	b	Stems fleshy, long, prostrate in leaf litter and turning erect to flower

	a	Lateral sepals free	Platylepis
	b	Lateral sepals fused for at least half their length	Cheirostylis

Tribe Diseae
	a	Column-part elongate Sepals and petals spreading and similar Flowers not resupinate Anther almost always pendent
	b	Column-part short or 0 Sepals and petals not similar

	a	Flowers irregular Lip spurs 2, almost always present, rarely saccate or obsolete Viscidia 1 or 2	Satyrium
	b	Flowers almost regular Spurs 0 Viscidia 2	Pachites

	a	Petals spathulate, margins deeply fimbriate Anther thecae diverging at base	Huttonaea
	b	Petals entire or lobed, not spathulate

	a	Petals adnate to median sepal to form galea, median sepal spurred or not Lip ascending at base and fused with gynostemium
	b	Petals free from median sepal Lip not basally fused with gynostemium

	a	Lateral sepals spurred or saccate Flowers resupinate	Disperis
	b	Lateral sepals not spurred or saccate

	a	Median sepal with slender or clavate spur Flowers resupinate Lip shorter than gynostemium	Brownleea
	b	Median sepal not spurred, but sometimes saccate Flowers resupinate or not

	a	Lip blade anchor-shaped, rhomboid or reniform
	b	Lip blade not as above

	a	Lip appendage present or 0, if present, deeply bilobed to near its base Underground organ cluster of furry roots, sometimes in addition root tubers present Gynostemium with short undifferentiated column-part	Ceratandra
	b	Lip appendage present, entire though apically bifid Underground organs root tubers Column-part 0	Evotella

	a	Median sepal and petals forming shallow hood	Pterygodium
	b	Median sepal and petals forming deep globose hood, widespread, if median sepal rather shallow then lip appendage with prominent median keel on front side Flowers not resupinate Plants from southern Drakensberg (KwaZulu-Natal) and Eastern Cape	Corycium

	a	Lip complex, with ascending basal part, flat middle part and tooth-like mucronate apex	Schizodium
	b	Lip simple, rarely lobed or fimbriate Viscidia 1 or 2	Disa

Tribe Orchideae
	a	Stigma sessile, undivided, borne in cavity below rostellum or on cushion or pad in front of gynostemium
	b	Stigmatic areas 2, convex or situated on stalks

	a	Stem with many lanceolate or broadly lanceolate leaves	Brachycorythis
	b	Stem not densely leafy

	a	Leaves 1 or 2, basal and adpressed to ground, suborbicular or cordate, rarely withered at flowering time Stem erect, often hairy Sepals green, herbaceous, different in texture from petals Petals and lip often fimbriate
	b	Leaves not adpressed to ground, if basal and solitary then sepals white

	a	Flowers 1, very rarely 2 Sepals and petals subequal	Bartholina
	b	Flowers more than 5 Petals longer than sepals	Holothrix

	a	Leaves (3-)5-30, linear, narrowly lanceolate or narrowly elliptic, clustered in basal part of stem Inflorescence drooping Flowers not resupinate Sepals much longer than petals Lip with spur 0.2-6.0 mm long	Schizochilus
	b	Leaves 1-3, basal Lip not spurred

	a	Leaf 1 Sepals more than twice as long as petals	Dracomonticola
	b	Leaves 2 or 3 Sepals and petals subequal	Neobolusia

	a	Petals undivided
	b	Petals deeply bilobed Flowers green, green and white or yellowish green Lip always spurred

	a	Flowers green or greenish yellow	Habenaria (in part)
	b	Flowers white or lilac

	a	Leaves few to many, spreading in basal rosette Lip with or without spur Underground organ cluster of tuberous roots	Stenoglottis
	b	Leaves 1 or 2, basal and suberect Lip spurred Roots tuberous	Cynorkis

	a	Side lobes of lip fringed Stigmatic arms bilobed	Centrostigma
	b	Side lobes of lip, if present, not fringed Stigmatic arms entire

	a	Lateral sepals, anterior petal lobe, and lip basally adnate to stigmatic arms Central rostellum lobe hood-like	Bonatea
	b	Lateral sepals, anterior petal lobe, and lip ± free from stigmatic arms	Habenaria (in part)

Tribe Cymbidieae
	a	Plants epiphytic Pseudobulbs elongate, leafy and narrowly fusiform Flowers large, yellow with brown blotches Spur 0	Ansellia
	b	Plants terrestrial Pseudobulbs (if present) with leaves mainly from apex Spur present or 0

	a	Inflorescence terminal Pseudobulbs 0 Leaves stiff, conduplicate	Acrolophia
	b	Inflorescence lateral Pseudobulbs or corms present

	a	Lip mostly 4-lobed Pseudobulbs consisting of single node	Oeceoclades
	b	Lip 3-lobed or entire Compressed pseudobulbs or corms consisting of more than one node, each new growth with several leaves	Eulophia

Tribe Gastrodieae
	a	Flowers held upright, sepals and petals united at base only, fruiting pedicel elongating to 90-200 mm at maturity	Didymoplexis
	b	Flowers drooping and bell-shaped, sepals and petals united, pedicels not elongating in fruit	Gastrodia

Tribe Malaxideae
	a	Plants epiphytic, without pseudobulbs Leaves equitant and succulent, arranged in fan	Oberonia
	b	Plants terrestrial or rarely epilithic or epiphytic Pseudobulbs present though sometimes small Leaves 2-4, ovate and flat, rather thin	Liparis

Tribe Vandeae
	a	Plants with fan of succulent, equitant and laterally compressed leaves Flowers small, white	Bolusiella
	b	Plants not as above Leaves flat, keeled, cylindrical or 0

	a	Flowers yellow with purple markings Spur saccate	Acampe
	b	Flowers white, cream-coloured or pale green, sometimes with darker tinges on apices of tepals and spur Spur various

	a	Plants leafless
	b	Plants with green leaves

	a	Stem elongate, up to 400 mm long Roots emerging all along its length	Solenangis
	b	Stem shorter or plants almost stemless Roots arising from base

	a	Spur 1-6 mm long	Microcoelia
	b	Spur 17-45 mm long

	a	Anther cap bright green Perianth campanulate with broadly rounded lobes	Diaphananthe (in part)
	b	Anther cap yellow, brown or dull green Perianth lobes narrow and pointed	Mystacidium (in part)

	a	Lip wide at base and encircling gynostemium Rostellum very short and emarginate	Angraecum
	b	Lip inserted below gynostemium and normally not encircling it Rostellum various

	a	Flowers 1 or rarely 2 per inflorescence Rostellum short and emarginate	Jumellea
	b	Flowers normally 3 or more Rostellum mostly beaked

	a	Flowers white Apical half of lip not or only shallowly 3-lobed
	b	Flowers green, cream, pale brown or yellow Apical half of lip various

	a	Sepals and petals narrow and pointed, similar to lip	Cyrtorchis
	b	Sepals and petals not as above

	a	Leaves conduplicate but flat in upper part Stipe 1, entire	Aerangis
	b	Leaves V-shaped throughout Stipe(s) 1 or 2

	a	Stipe 1, Y-shaped, divided for nearly half its length Spur usually less than 45 mm long	Ypsilopus
	b	Stipes 2, free to near base Spur 8-90 mm long

	a	Flowers star-like with broadly ovate-lanceolate perianth lobes Lateral sepals 9-11 mm long Spur 50-90 mm long	Rangaeris
	b	Flowers not as above

	a	Lip ecallose Anther cap not bright green Spur mouth wide Sepals and petals mostly acute and often reflexed	Mystacidium (in part)
	b	Lip mostly callose at base, if rarely without callus then anther cap conspicuously green and perianth campanulate with broadly obtuse sepals and petals	Diaphananthe (in part)

	a	Lip apically deeply 3-lobed, side lobes often fringed Stipe and viscidium 1	Tridactyle
	b	Lip apically not deeply 3-lobed Stipes 2

	a	Lip without callus Anther cap not bright green Spur mouth wide Sepals and petals often reflexed, acute	Mystacidium (in part)
	b	Lip mostly with callus in spur mouth, if rarely without callus then anther cap conspicuously green, and sepals and petals broadly obtuse	Diaphananthe (in part)