Luisia zeylanica Lindl., a new record of Orchidaceae from China

MA Liang, ZHAI Junwen, LIU Mingzhu, LAN Siren

(1.College of Landscape; 2.College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China)

Abstract: Luisia zeylanica Lindl., a newly recorded species of Orchidaceae from China is reported. Characteristic description and color photos were provided herein. The voucher specimens are deposited in Herbarium of College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FJFC).

Key words: China; Orchidaceae; new record; Luisia zeylanica

LuisiaGaudichaud (1829: 426) has more than 40 species within the native ranges of Sri Lanka, India, Bhutan, China, Southeast Asia, Japan, New Guinea, the Pacific Islands and Australia[1-5]. A total of 14 species (including 5 endemic types) are recorded in China, which are mainly distributed around Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hainan and Shaanxi Provinces[6-9].

During fieldwork in Xirang Village, Beibeng Town, Medog County, Tibet Autonomous Region, China in April 2016, we found a species ofLuisiawhich was not flowering in the wild. We brought a few plants back to the nursery for further observation. The plants flowered for several consecutive years, and demonstrated stable morphological characters. After critical examination and referring to literature, we identified it asLuisiazeylanicaLindl., which is a newly recorded species from China.

LuisiazeylanicaLindl., Fol. Orch.Luisia3. 1853; Seidenfaden, Dansk Bot. Ark. 27(4):62. 1971; Deva & Naithani, Orch. Fl. N.W. Himal. 413. 1986; Misra, Orch. Orissa 665. 2004.L.teretifoliaauct. non Gaudich., 1826: Hook.f, Fl. Brit. India 6: 22. 1890; King & Pantling, Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. Calcutta 8:202. t. 271. 1898; Duthie, Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. Calcutta 9:140. 1906.

Luisiazeylanica(Fig.1) is an epiphytic herbs. Stems rigid, somewhat woody, terete, tufted, 5-16 cm long, 3.5-4 mm thick; nodes 0.8-1.5 cm long, upper ones sheathed with leaf bases. Roots as thick as stem, branched or not, pale green when young, more or less shriveled and grayish brown at maturity. Leaves 4-14 cm long, 3-4 mm thick, alternate, terete, acute. Raceme arising through the leaf sheath, 5-12 mm long, 1-3(-5) flowered, compact; bracts minute, oblong, obtuse, broadly triangular, persistent. Flowers greenish pink or purple, 6-8 mm in diameter; sepals subequal, margin involute; dorsal sepal (3-4) mm×(2-2.5) mm, pale green, erect, oblong-ovate, obtuse or subacute; lateral sepals, (3.5-4.5) mm×(2-2.5) mm, pale yellow, boat-shaped, keeled towards the apex, obliquely ovate-lanceolate, acute; petals (4.5-5.5) mm×(1-1.5) mm, pale yellow, slightly longer than sepals, linear-oblong, obtuse, slightly falcate; lip fleshy with dark maroon horizontal bands, 5-6 mm long, divided into hypochile and epichile by a compressed and semicircular furrow; hypochile maroon, slightly shorter than epichile, concave, thin, erect; epichile maroon fading to reddish yellow at apex, triangular cordate, obscurely 3-lobed, 4-5 mm at the broadest, rhomboid; column reddish yellow, (2.5-3.5) mm×(1.5-2.5) mm, stout, oblong, slightly incurved, clinandrium cordate; rostellum short and broad, blunt; pollinia 2, yellow, 1.5 mm×1.5 mm, ovoid, equal, stipe short, viscidium brown, rhomboid; ovary greenish yellow with purple base, (6-8) mm×(1-1.2) mm, curved at the apex.

A:flowering plant; B:flower, side view; C:inflorescences; D:inflorescence; E:flower, front view; F:anatomy of flower.Fig.1 L.zeylanica Lindl.

Phenology: Flowering from May to June.

Habitat: Epiphytic on trees in broad-leaved forest.

Distribution: China (new record), Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Laos[10-11].

Specimens examined: China, Tibet Autonomous Region, Medog County, Beibeng Town, Xirang Village, 29°10′45″N, 95°01′43″E, 769 m, 13 April 2016, Ma 045xz (FJFC).