Ponthieva (commonly called shadow witch) is a genus form the orchid family (Orchidaceae). They are named after Henry de Ponthieu, an English merchant of Huguenot ancestry who sent West Indian plant collections to Sir Joseph Banks in 1778. Ponthieva is widely distributed in the southeastern United States, the West Indies, and Latin America from Mexico to Argentina. The clawed lip is fused to the base of the short column. This is semiterete, i.e. in the form of a cylinder, rounded on one side and flat on the other. It is slightly winged towards the pointed apex.