ORCHIDACEAE - China

ORCHIDOIDEAE 57markings inside; ovary reddish brown, twisted, terete, pubescent,including pedicel 9–10 mm. Dorsal sepal erect, concave,narrowly elliptic, 4–6 × 1.5–2.5 mm, apex slightly obtuse; lateralsepals spreading, obliquely elliptic or ovate-elliptic, 5.5–6× ca. 3 mm, apex acute or slightly obtuse. Petals similar in colorto sepals, oblanceolate, 4–6 × 1.5–2 mm, midvein transparent,apex obtuse; lip reddish brown adaxially, 4–5.5 mm, 3-lobedat apex; lateral lobes erect, small; mid-lobe reflexed, white,broadly ovate to triangular-ovate, apex subacute; spur pendulous,reddish brown, tubular, 1.5–4 mm, centrally slightly dilated,glabrous, apex shallowly 2-lobed. Column erect, 1.5–4mm, bearing up to 3 anthers in some Taiwanese populations.Fl. Apr–May.Evergreen broad-leaved forests; 400–1500 m. Guangdong,Guangxi, Taiwan, SE Yunnan [NE India, Indonesia, Malaysia, N Myanmar,Thailand, Vietnam].Continuity in the length of the spur and in the outline of the centrallobe of the lip make it difficult to distinguish between Erythrodeschinensis and E. blumei, though Ormerod (Lindleyana 17: 194. 2002)used these characters to differentiate the two. The report of E. latifoliaBlume from Taiwan (in T. S. Liu & H. J. Su, Fl. Taiwan 5: 990. 1978) isconsidered a misidentification of E. blumei. The recently described E.triantherae from Taiwan, which the authors distinguished from E.blumei primarily by the presence of up to three anthers on the column(see C. L. Yeh & C. S. Leou, Taiwania 51: 266. 2006), is probably apeloric mutant and is referable to E. blumei when the full range indimensions of other floral parts in the latter is taken into account.2. Erythrodes hirsuta (Griffith) Ormerod in Seidenfaden,Contr. Orchid Fl. Thailand 13: 12. 1997.硬 毛 钳 唇 兰 ying mao qian chun lanGoodyera hirsuta Griffith, Not. Pl. Asiat. 3: 393. 1851;Erythrodes herpysmoides (King & Pantling) Schlechter; E.seshagiriana A. N. Rao; Physurus hirsutus (Griffith) Lindley;P. herpysmoides King & Pantling.Plants 15–30 cm tall. Stem erect, green, ca. 2 mm in diam.,with 6 or 7 leaves. Leaves petiolate, green, ovate, oblique, 4–6× 2–3 cm, usually with 3 conspicuous veins abaxially, base obtuse,apex acute; petiole 2–3 cm, basally dilated into amplexicaulsheath. Peduncle 11–20 cm, pubescent, with 2–5 sterilebracts; rachis 1–6 cm, pubescent, densely few to several flowered;floral bracts lanceolate, 6–10 × 1.2–2.5 mm, pubescent,apex acuminate. Flowers small; sepals pubescent and pale reddishbrown outside, white tinged pinkish inside; ovary slightlytwisted, terete, pubescent, including pedicel 5–10 mm. Dorsalsepal spreading forward, concave, oblong-lanceolate, 6–6.5 ×ca. 2 mm, apex subacute; lateral sepals spreading, oblong-lanceolate,6–6.5 × ca. 2.5 mm, apex acute. Petals similar in colorto sepals, spatulate, ca. 6 × 1.5 mm, apex obtuse; lip white, 5.5–6 × ca. 2.4 mm, obscurely 3-lobed at apex; lateral lobes erect,small; mid-lobe reflexed, suborbicular or transversely elliptic,apex rounded and sometimes shortly apiculate; spur spreadinghorizontally, cylindric, 3–4.5 mm, dilated below apex, glabrous,apex distinctly 2-lobed and sometimes almost 4-lobed. Columnsuberect, 3–4 mm. Fl. Jan–Mar.Evergreen broad-leaved forests; 100–1500 m. Hainan [Bhutan,NE India, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam].10. CHEIROSTYLIS Blume, Bijdr. 413. 1825.叉 柱 兰 属 cha zhu lan shuChen Xinqi ( 陈 心 启 Chen Sing-chi); Stephan W. Gale, Phillip J. Cribb, Paul OrmerodArisanorchis Hayata; Gymnochilus Blume; Mariarisqueta Guinea.Herbs, terrestrial or occasionally epiphytic, small. Rhizome decumbent, moniliform to terete, fleshy, with many contractednodes; roots usually reduced to fine hairs and arranged along ridges on rhizome internodes, rarely fleshy and emerging from rhizomenodes. Stem erect, very short to elongate, glabrous, with 2 to several subrosulate or scattered cauline leaves. Leaves often withered atanthesis, ovate to cordate, with a short petiole-like base dilating into a tubular amplexicaul sheath. Inflorescence erect, terminal,racemose, very short to elongate, 1- to many flowered, glabrous to pubescent. Flowers resupinate, usually small, mostly not secund;ovary shortly pedicellate, twisted, fusiform, glabrous to pubescent. Sepals membranous, outer surface glabrous to pubescent, connatefor half to almost entire length and forming a tube, or rarely free. Petals usually connivent with dorsal sepal; lip adnate to columnmargin at base, sometimes simple and entire though usually 3-partite; hypochile often dilated and saccate, containing fleshy, lobed orseriate (comblike) papillose calli; mesochile subtubular, short to elongate; epichile spreading, 2-lobed or rarely entire, marginlaciniate, dentate, wavy, or entire. Column short, ventrally with 2 elongate armlike appendages (stelidia) parallel to rostellum; anthererect, ovoid, 2-locular; pollinia 2, each longitudinally 2-partite, granular-farinaceous, clavate, attached to solitary oblong viscidium;rostellum deeply bifid, 2 elongate arms erect, parallel; stigma lobes 2, separate, convex, rather large, placed laterally near apex ofcolumn and below rostellum. Capsule ellipsoid.About 50 species: from tropical Africa through tropical Asia to New Guinea, Australia, and the Pacific islands; 17 species (eight endemic) inChina.Hayata considered species with an entire lip to comprise a distinct genus, Arisanorchis, but they conform to Cheirostylis in other respects (sepalsbasally fused and forming a tube, column with two elongate stelidia, rostellum deeply bifid) and are most likely peloric forms. A monographicrevision of the genus is highly desirable given that overlapping species concepts remain a problem in separating taxa named from different regions.The endemic species of Taiwan and Hong Kong in particular remain poorly known and are in need of re-examination.1a. Leafy stem elongate, (1.5–)3–8 cm; leaves cauline, scattered, sometimes becoming clustered toward apexof stem; inflorescence shorter than, equal to, or sometimes slightly longer than (but always less than2 × as long as) leafy stem.