Utricularia sect. Orchidioides is a section

Section (botany)

In botany, a section is a taxonomic rank below the genus, but above the species. The subgenus, if present, is higher than the section, and the rank of series, if present, is below the section. Sections are typically used to help organise very large genera, which may have hundreds of species...

 in the genus Utricularia. The species in this section are small or medium-sized terrestrial or epiphytic

Epiphyte

An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...

 carnivorous plant

Carnivorous plant

Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants appear adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic...

s native to Central

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

 and South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. Alphonse Pyrame de Candolle originally published this section in 1844. In 1916, John Hendley Barnhart moved the section to its own genus, Orchyllium, recognizing that the species in this section are distinct. Several other botanists, including Henry Gleason

Henry Gleason

Henry Allan Gleason was a noted American ecologist, botanist, and taxonomist, most recognized for his endorsement of the individualistic/open community concept of ecological succession.- Life and work :...

, considered the treatment of these species in the genus Orchyllium valid and moved other species from Utricularia to Orchyllium. Ultimately the species were all reunited under Utricularia.