Orchideaceae

Orchideaceae

Eulophia dabia 

Orchideaceae

Dendrobium amoenum

Orchideaceae

Spathoglottis ixioides

Orchideaceae

Bulbophyllum yoksunense

Orchideaceae

Orchideaceae

Phalaenopsis taenialis

by G & P Jürgens

(Lindl.) Christenson & Pradhan

Bhutan2014 674
Bhutan Wangdi 2280m, May
Bhutan2014 676 scaled
Bhutan Wangdi 2280m, May
Bh2008 511 G785
Bhutan Chongsakha, 1800m April

Description

Phalaenopsis taenialis is a small epiphytic orchid distributed through the eastern Himalaya and adjacent regions, recorded from China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Vietnam and Myanmar, with about 161 georeferenced occurrences. It grows on tree trunks and mossy branches in humid, broadleaved evergreen and semi-evergreen forest of the subtropical to lower temperate belt, broadly between 1500 and 2500 m. The cited Bhutanese localities at Wangdue (2280 m) in May and Chongsakha (1800 m) in April are typical of its moist, sheltered mid-elevation forest habitat, where it flowers in spring before the full monsoon.

It is a dwarf, monopodial epiphyte, often nearly leafless at flowering, with a short stem bearing well-developed, flattened, photosynthetic roots that clasp the bark. The leaves, when present, are few, thin and elliptic, and may be shed during the dry season. The inflorescence is a slender raceme of small, delicate flowers; the sepals and petals are pinkish to pale lilac, spreading, and the three-lobed labellum is the distinctive feature, with a callus and small lateral lobes characteristic of the species. The fruit is a dry, ribbed capsule releasing dust-fine seeds.

The species was long placed in Kingiella or Doritis and is sometimes segregated as Hygrochilus or Aerides allies, but is now treated within an enlarged Phalaenopsis following the combination by Christenson and Pradhan. Its deciduous, root-dominated habit is an adaptation to seasonally dry epiphytic perches. As a forest-dependent epiphyte vulnerable to habitat loss and orchid collection, it is of conservation interest across its range.

Author: (Lindl.) Christenson & Pradhan · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Christenson's monograph of Phalaenopsis

Orchideaceae

Pinalia acervata

by GP Jürgens

(Lindl.) Kuntze

Bhutan2012 1144
Bhutan, Trashiyangtse 1780m, October
Bhutan2012 1143
Bhutan, Trashiyangtse 1780m, October

Description

Pinalia acervata is an epiphytic orchid of the warm-temperate and subtropical forests of tropical Asia, ranging widely from China and India through Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore to Bhutan and Nepal, with 114 GBIF records reflecting this broad Indo-Burmese and Sino-Himalayan span. It grows as a humidity-loving epiphyte on mossy trunks and branches in evergreen broadleaved forest, generally at low to moderate elevations. The illustrated plant was found at Trashiyangtse in eastern Bhutan at about 1780 m in October, in the warm, monsoon-fed valleys where epiphytic orchid communities are particularly rich.

The species forms clustered, cylindrical to fusiform pseudobulbs that are densely tufted, each bearing several distichous, lanceolate to oblong leaves toward the apex. The inflorescences are lateral racemes, frequently densely many-flowered and clothed, like the ovaries and outer floral parts, in the rusty or whitish woolly indumentum characteristic of the segregate genus. The small flowers are whitish to pale yellow, with a saccate mentum formed by the lateral sepals against the column foot, and a small three-lobed lip; the fruit is a small ribbed capsule.

The taxon was long placed in the large pantropical genus Eria, as Eria acervata, and the basionym (Lindl.) Kuntze reflects this history; modern phylogenetic work has resolved many former Eria species into smaller, better-circumscribed genera, with this species now treated under Pinalia in tribe Podochileae. As a widespread, adaptable epiphyte it is not considered threatened, though local populations depend on the persistence of humid forest canopy and are diminished by deforestation.

Author: (Lindl.) Kuntze · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Genera Orchidacearum (Pridgeon et al.)

Orchideaceae

Pinalia amica

by GP Jürgens

(Rchb.f.) Kuntze

Bh2008 320 P495
Bhutan Jakar, 2950m April
Bh2008 321 G496
Bhutan Jakar, 2950m April

Description

Pinalia amica (Rchb.f.) Kuntze, long known under Eria amica, is an epiphytic orchid widely distributed through tropical and subtropical Asia. GBIF records (about 203 occurrences) extend from Nepal, northern India and Bhutan eastward through Myanmar, southern China, Taiwan, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia. It grows as an epiphyte, occasionally a lithophyte, on mossy trunks and branches in humid broad-leaved and mixed forest, from the foothills up to about 2000-3000 m. The plant photographed at Jakar in Bhutan at 2950 m in April, flowering in spring, occurs near the upper part of its altitudinal range in cool, moist montane forest where high humidity and shaded, well-aerated bark provide its rooting substrate.

It is a sympodial epiphyte with cylindric to fusiform pseudobulbs or stems clustered on a creeping rhizome, each bearing a few apical leaves. The leaves are oblong-lanceolate, leathery and several-nerved. The inflorescence is a lateral raceme of several to many flowers, the rachis and ovaries usually finely hairy. The flowers are small, cream to pale yellow, often marked with reddish-brown striations; the sepals form a short mentum at the base with the column foot, and the lip is three-lobed and bears longitudinal keels or calli. The pollinarium carries eight waxy pollinia, and the fruit is a ribbed dehiscent capsule releasing dust-like seeds.

The broadly circumscribed genus Eria has been dismembered on molecular evidence, and species of the Eria amica group are now placed in Pinalia within tribe Podochileae; Pinalia amica is the currently accepted name. Like most epiphytic orchids it depends on mycorrhizal fungi for seed germination and produces enormous numbers of minute wind-dispersed seeds. Widespread across Asia, it is not regarded as threatened overall, though, as with all orchids, it is listed on CITES Appendix II, and local populations are sensitive to deforestation and collection.

Author: (Rchb.f.) Kuntze · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, The Orchids of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Ng et al. molecular phylogeny of Eria and allied genera

Orchideaceae

Pinalia excavata

by GP Jürgens

(Lindl.) Kuntze

Bhutan2014 177
Bhutan Trashigang 2100m, May

Description

Pinalia excavata is an epiphytic orchid of the Eastern Himalaya and adjacent southern China and Indochina, with GBIF records from China, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar and a modest tally of documented occurrences. It grows as an epiphyte on tree trunks and mossy branches in humid broad-leaved and evergreen montane forest, favouring shaded, well-ventilated situations in the warm-temperate to lower montane belt. The species occupies low to middle elevations; the photographed plant from Trashigang in eastern Bhutan at about 2100 m in May represents a typical station within its altitudinal range, flowering in late spring as the pre-monsoon humidity rises.

The plant produces clustered, fusiform to cylindrical pseudobulbs arising from a creeping rhizome, each bearing several apical leaves. The leaves are lanceolate to elliptic, thin-textured to somewhat leathery and prominently veined. The inflorescence is a lateral or subterminal raceme bearing numerous small flowers, the rachis and ovaries usually clothed in fine hairs as is characteristic of the genus. The flowers are pale, whitish to cream or yellowish, with spreading sepals and petals; the lateral sepals are adnate to the column foot to form a short mentum, and the trilobed labellum bears raised keels or ridges along its disc. The column is short and footed, and the fruit is a small ribbed capsule.

Pinalia comprises species formerly placed in the broadly circumscribed Eria, segregated on the basis of molecular and morphological evidence; P. excavata was originally described under Eria and is treated by current authorities under Pinalia. As a forest epiphyte dependent on intact humid canopy, it is vulnerable to deforestation and habitat degradation across its range, although it is not presently the subject of a formal threat assessment.

Author: (Lindl.) Kuntze · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, The Orchids of Bhutan (Pearce & Cribb)

Orchideaceae

Pinalia leucantha

by GP Jürgens

Kuntze

Nepal 2001 462 ergebnis ergebnis
Nepal (Gorkha) Gunda 1700m, May

Description

Pinalia leucantha is an epiphytic orchid of the central and eastern Himalaya, recorded from northern India, Nepal, Bhutan and adjacent southern China, with georeferenced collections (c. 59 in GBIF) along the moist subtropical to lower temperate belt of the range. It typically grows on mossy trunks and major branches of broad-leaved forest trees, occasionally on shaded rocks, between roughly 1000 and 2000 m. The photographed plant from Gorkha district, Gunda (1700 m, flowering in May), is characteristic of this monsoon-influenced habitat, where high humidity and a marked dry winter govern the growth cycle.

The species is a tufted, sympodial epiphyte forming clustered, fusiform to cylindrical pseudobulbs that are several-noded and clothed when young in papery sheaths. Each pseudobulb bears a few apical, oblong-lanceolate to elliptic, coriaceous leaves with acute tips. The inflorescence is a lateral to subterminal raceme carrying numerous small, whitish to cream flowers, the floral parts frequently invested with fine ferruginous hairs typical of the genus. Sepals and petals are spreading, the lateral sepals adnate to the column foot to form a short mentum; the lip is three-lobed with a fleshy, often keeled disc, and the pollinia are eight, waxy and clavate.

The genus Pinalia comprises species formerly placed in a broadly circumscribed Eria, segregated within tribe Podochileae (subtribe Eriinae) on vegetative and column characters supported by molecular data, and many Himalayan epiphytes have been recombined into it. As a widespread forest epiphyte, P. leucantha is not currently regarded as threatened, though like most epiphytic orchids it is sensitive to deforestation and collection; CITES Appendix II listing applies to all Orchidaceae in trade.

Author: Kuntze · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Nepal, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China (Orchidaceae), The Orchids of Bhutan

Orchideaceae

Platanthera concinna

by G & P Jürgens

(Hook.f.) Kraenzl.

Nepal 99 395 ergebnis
Nepal, Dzongri 3800m, June

Description

Platanthera concinna (Hook.f.) Kraenzl. is a terrestrial orchid of the high eastern Himalaya. GBIF records, though few (around two dozen occurrences), place it in India and Bhutan, with an anomalous South African record almost certainly representing misidentification or a database error; in practice it is a narrowly Himalayan species. It grows in alpine and subalpine meadows, grassy slopes and open scrub near and above the treeline, at elevations of roughly 3,000 to 4,200 m. The plant recorded at Dzongri at 3,800 m, flowering in June, is characteristic of its high-elevation summer anthesis on humid alpine turf.

The species is a slender, erect terrestrial herb arising from ellipsoid to fusiform root-tubers. The stem bears a few narrow, lanceolate to oblong cauline leaves that sheath at the base. The inflorescence is a lax to moderately dense terminal raceme of small flowers, typically greenish to greenish-white; the dorsal sepal and petals form a hood, the lateral sepals spread, and the lip is narrow and entire to obscurely lobed with a slender, descending spur containing nectar, adapted to pollination by long-tongued insects.

Platanthera is a large, mainly north-temperate genus of butterfly-orchids, and the Himalayan species form a taxonomically difficult complex once dispersed among Habenaria and allied genera. The limited number of records reflects both its restricted high-altitude habitat and undercollection. As an alpine orchid with a small documented range, it warrants conservation attention, and like all Orchidaceae it is protected under CITES Appendix II.

Author: (Hook.f.) Kraenzl. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 3 Part 3 (Orchids), Flora of China Vol. 25, Pearce & Cribb: The Orchids of Bhutan (2002)

Orchideaceae

Platanthera leptocaulon

by GP Jürgens

(Hook.f.) Soó

Sikkim2003 96 P133
Sikkim above Chora 3600m 08.2003
Sikkim2003 97 P134
Sikkim above Chora 3600m 08.2003

Description

Platanthera leptocaulon is a terrestrial orchid of the eastern Himalaya and adjacent mountains of south-western China, recorded from Sikkim and the rest of northern India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Yunnan and Sichuan in China. The roughly 67 georeferenced collections concentrate in the high subalpine to alpine belt, where the species occupies moist open turf, the margins of dwarf-shrub thickets and grassy hollows kept damp by snowmelt. The plant photographed above Chora in Sikkim at 3600 m in August typifies its habitat, flowering during the late-summer monsoon at elevations of roughly 3000-4200 m on humus-rich, well-drained slopes.

It is a slender, glabrous herb arising from ovoid to fusiform root-tubers, the erect stem comparatively thin and wiry (the epithet leptocaulon meaning "slender-stemmed"). The few cauline leaves are oblong-lanceolate to linear, sheathing at the base and grading upwards into bracts. The lax terminal raceme bears small greenish to greenish-white flowers; the dorsal sepal and petals are connivent to form a hood over the column, the lateral sepals spreading, and the entire, narrowly oblong labellum extends backwards into a slender cylindrical spur. The viscidia are naked and the pollinia are attached by slender caudicles, with fruit a small erect dehiscent capsule releasing dust-like seed.

The genus Platanthera is a large Holarctic and Asian assemblage centred on temperate and montane regions, and P. leptocaulon belongs to the species-rich Sino-Himalayan radiation, the basionym having been transferred by Soo from Habenaria. Like most members of the genus it depends on mycorrhizal fungi for germination and probably on long-tongued nocturnal pollinators attracted to the spurred flowers. Though not formally assessed, its broad transboundary range and tolerance of grazed alpine pasture suggest reasonable security, but populations remain vulnerable to overgrazing and the warming-driven upslope contraction of alpine grassland.

Author: (Hook.f.) Soó · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, The Genus Platanthera (Orchidaceae) monograph

Orchideaceae

Platanthera stenantha

by GP Jürgens

(Hook.f.) Soó

BhutanPG2011 818 01 01
Bhutan Chele-La 3500m, July

Description

Platanthera stenantha (Hook.f.) Soó is a terrestrial orchid of the Himalaya and western China, recorded by GBIF from China, Nepal, India, Myanmar and Bhutan across some 138 occurrences. It inhabits open subalpine and alpine slopes, grassy meadows, and the edges of Rhododendron and birch scrub, typically between about 3000 and 4000 m. The plant photographed on the Chele-La pass in Bhutan at around 3500 m in July, at the height of the monsoon flowering season, exemplifies its association with cool, moist, well-lit high-montane grassland.

The species grows from elongate, fleshy root-tubers and produces an erect leafy stem bearing several oblong to lanceolate cauline leaves that grade upwards into bracts. The inflorescence is a slender, fairly dense terminal raceme of small greenish to yellowish-green flowers, the specific epithet stenantha referring to their narrow form. The dorsal sepal and petals form a loose hood over the column, the lateral sepals spread, and the narrow, tongue-shaped labellum hangs downward and is prolonged at its base into a slender spur, usually about equalling or exceeding the ovary, that holds nectar for moth or butterfly pollinators.

Platanthera is a large genus of tribe Orchideae characterised by its spurred labellum and widely separated, often divergent pollinia-bearing anther cells. Platanthera stenantha belongs among the green-flowered Sino-Himalayan species and is distinguished from its relatives by floral proportions and spur length. With a moderately wide distribution it is not regarded as globally threatened, but its high-grassland habitat is subject to grazing and climatic pressures, and like all orchids it falls under CITES Appendix II.

Author: (Hook.f.) Soó · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Pearce and Cribb Orchids of Bhutan, World Checklist of Orchidaceae

Orchideaceae

Pleione hookeriana

by G & P Jürgens

(Lindl.) Rollisson

Sikkim2011 381
Sikkim Lachen 2600m, June
Nepal 2001 262 ergebnis ergebnis
Nepal (Gorkha) Jaurey Kharka 2700m, May
Nepal 2001 263 ergebnis ergebnis
Nepal (Gorkha) Jaurey Kharka 2700m, May

Description

Pleione hookeriana is a small epiphytic and lithophytic orchid of the eastern Himalaya and Indochina, distributed across Nepal, India, Bhutan, China and Laos, with about 204 GBIF occurrences. It inhabits cool, humid montane forest, growing on mossy tree trunks, branches and shaded rocks in the temperate zone, favouring situations with abundant atmospheric moisture. The images document it in Sikkim near Lachen at about 2600 m in June and in the Gorkha district of Nepal at Jaurey Kharka around 2700 m in May, where it flowers on moss-clad substrates as the monsoon approaches.

It is a dwarf, deciduous orchid growing from a small annual pseudobulb that bears a single plicate leaf. The flower is solitary and produced with or just before the leaf on a short scape arising from the base of the pseudobulb. The sepals and petals are narrow, spreading and pale pink to rose-lilac; the labellum is comparatively large, obovate, fringed at the margin, and marked within by a yellow to brown-spotted, lamellate throat that contrasts with the paler perianth. The column is slender and winged. The fruit is a dry dehiscent capsule releasing dust-like seeds.

Pleione hookeriana is the smallest-flowered species of its genus and is distinguished by its diminutive habit and patterned lip. Like all Pleione it has an annual pseudobulb cycle and depends on mycorrhizal fungi for seed germination. The showy lip and contrasting throat markings attract bee pollinators in spring. As an attractive orchid it is subject to horticultural collection, and the entire genus is listed on CITES Appendix II, regulating international trade.

Author: (Lindl.) Rollisson · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, The Genus Pleione (Cribb & Butterfield), CITES Appendices

Orchideaceae

Pleione humilis

by GP Jürgens

(Sm.) D.Don

Nepal1992 42 P60 ergebnis
Nepal Nundhaki 1500m March 
Nepal1992 56 P81 ergebnis
Nepal Nundhaki 1500m March 
Nepal1992 242 P359 ergebnis
Nepal Nundhaki 1500m March 

Description

Pleione humilis is a dwarf orchid of the Himalaya and adjoining mountains, native to Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar and Thailand, with around 136 georeferenced occurrences across this eastern arc. It grows chiefly as an epiphyte on mossy tree trunks and branches, and occasionally as a lithophyte on shaded, humus-covered rocks, in cool, humid temperate forest. The illustrated plant from Nundhaki in Nepal, at about 1500 m and flowering in March, exemplifies the species' habit of blooming in late winter to early spring, characteristically before or as the new leaves expand at relatively low montane elevations.

The plant grows from small, flask- to top-shaped, often warty pseudobulbs, each producing a single (occasionally paired) plicate, deciduous leaf. The flowers, usually borne singly on a short scape from the base of the pseudobulb, are large for the plant's size and showy, with spreading, narrow, white to pale pink sepals and petals. The conspicuous trumpet-shaped labellum is broadly funnel-form and frilled at the margin, white marked within by yellow to brown and red blotches and bearing several toothed or fringed keels (lamellae) along the disc. The slender, winged column lies enclosed within the lip, and the fruit is a ribbed dehiscent capsule shedding dust-like seeds.

Pleione is a small genus of about two dozen Sino-Himalayan and Southeast Asian orchids, much admired and cultivated, of which P. humilis is one of the winter-flowering, single-leaved species. As with all orchids it is protected under CITES Appendix II, and wild populations are threatened by collection for horticulture and by clearance of the moist forest on which the epiphytic plants depend; conservation therefore hinges on protecting both the species and its montane forest habitat.

Author: (Sm.) D.Don · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan (Orchidaceae), Flora of China (Orchidaceae), Cribb & Butterfield: The Genus Pleione (monograph)