in Sri Lanka - Ministry of Environment

Present Status of Family Orchidaceae in Sri LankaR.H.S. Suranjan FernandoPost Graduate Institute of Sciences, Peradeniya and Center for Applied Biodiversity Researchand EducationIntroductionFamily Orchidaceae is a one of the largest flowering plant families in the world, containing about25,000 -30,000 species. The family has a worldwide distribution except in the Polar Regions.The highest species diversity is recorded in the tropical areas, particularly in rainforests andassociated ecosystems.In Sri Lanka, Orchidaceae is among the largest families in the country with 189 known species,belonging to 78 genera, including 55 endemic species (Fernando and Ormerod, 2008; SotoArenas and Cribb, 2010). All these species are herbs or small shrubs, having epiphytic orterrestrial life forms. Few species are found as Mycoheterotrophic and some as climbers.Orchids grow in many habitat types, with the highest representation in diverse ecosystemsfound in the wet zone.History of Sri Lankan orchid researchAlthough Paul Hermann’s (1646-1695) collection contained two orchid species, orchiddiscoveries in Sri Lanka were made largely during the British colonial period, after theestablishment of the Botanical Gardens in the country. The early Superintendents of RoyalBotanic Gardens, Peradeniya, Alexander Moon (1817-1825) and James Macrae (?-1830)made many orchid collections, among other plant species, and sent them to England.Subsequent Superintendents and Directors of Botanic Gardens, George Gardner (1812-1849), G. H. K.Thwaites (1812-1882) and Henry Trimen (1843- 1896) collected and describedthe majority of Sri Lankan orchids. Many specimens sent to Kew are included in J. D. Hooker's(1817-1911) monumental work on the Flora of British India series in which he has describedand stated their distribution in relation to the Indian sub continent.The most recent comprehensive taxonomic work was done by D.M.A. Jayaweera in the late1970s (published in1981).TaxonomyThe most recent systematic treatment of Sri Lankan orchids was conducted by Jayaweera(1981) three decades ago. Fernando and Ormerod, in 2008, presented an updated checklistusing available literature and referringto some herbarium specimens. According to the abovechecklist, the following deviations from Jayaweera's treatment were significant: i) many namechanges with reference to some global and regional generic treatments, ii) marked reductionof a number of Sri Lankan endemic species due to many regional findings, especially fromthe Indian sub-continent and iii) increased number of total species by addition to many newspecies to the country's list.200