Under the All India Coordinated Research Project on Taxonomy of Orchids, survey of orchids and their habitat were initiated in the state of Jharkhand in August, 2002. The state of Jharkhand encompasses Chotanagpur plateau and adjacent hill ranges. It has 29.6 % forest cover, largely consisting of tropical moist deciduous forests and other vegetation types. The state is home to a large number of threatened orchids (59 species) and other valuable plants. This presentation deals with taxonomic updates of orchids, their status and habitat characteristics in this state. Orchids were searched along the survey routes on foot covering a distance of 600 kms. in various forests. For each orchid species encountered, various habitat parameters such as land use, plant association, host species and characteristics were noted. Such information has been collected for 30 orchid species belonging to 18 genera. Number of host species recorded for epiphytic orchids were 24. It was found that the terrestrial orchids prefer shade and moist condition, whereas the epiphytic ones preferred more sunlight. Vanda tessallata, Oberonia falconeri, Geodorum densiflorum and Aerides multiflora were the most common orchids. Most common host trees were, Madhuca longifolia, Mangifera indica, Schleichera oleosa and Shorea robusta. Major habitats have been compared in terms of orchid abundance, microhabitats and threats.