Ponthieva is a genus in the orchid family (Orchidaceae), commonly known as the shadow witch.

[3] 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 simple stem grows from rhizomes and carries thin, basal leaves with a slight to a somewhat longer stalk.

The few to many, erect flowers grow on bracteate peduncles in a terminal raceme.