See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333195812 Liu, Q., P. Kumar & J.Y.Gao. 2019. Notes on Gastrochilus gongshanensis (Orchidaceae). Kew Bulletin 74: 21 Article in Kew Bulletin · June 2019 DOI: 10.1007/s12225-019-9808-3 CITATIONS READS 0 127 3 authors, including: Qiang Liu Pankaj Kumar Yunnan Forestry Technological College Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden 70 PUBLICATIONS 735 CITATIONS 117 PUBLICATIONS 180 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Orchids of Hong Kong S.A.R., China View project Taxonomy and ecology of orchids of Jharkhand, India View project All content following this page was uploaded by Qiang Liu on 26 March 2020. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. KEW BULLETIN (2019) 74:21 ISSN: 0075-5974 (print) DOI 10.1007/S12225-019-9808-3 ISSN: 1874-933X (electronic) Notes on Gastrochilus gongshanensis (Orchidaceae) Qiang Liu1,2, Pankaj Kumar3 & Jiang-Yun Gao4 Summary. Gastrochilus gongshanensis was, until recently, only known from the poorly preserved type specimen and because the protologue is deficient in several respects, the delimitation of this species has been difficult to inter- pret. During a recent field survey, fresh specimens of this species were collected which allow us to elucidate its key characters. Key Words. Aeridinae, China, Epidendroideae, revision, taxonomy. Introduction Taxonomic Treatment The name Gastrochilus is derived from the Greek gaster, Gastrochilus gongshanensis Z.H.Tsi (1996: 149). Type: belly, and cheilos, lip, referring to the saccate hypochile China. Yunnan, Gongshan County, Nujiang Autono- of the lip. Other important characters for the genus mous Prefecture, 3200 m, Oct. 1935, C. W. Wang 71803 are the presence of a broad epichile on the front of (holotype: PE!). hypochile, a pollinarium with two porate, globose pollinia borne on a slender stipe, and a short axillary Epiphytic pendulous herb. Stem rarely branched, with inflorescence. This genus includes around 64 species purple spots, pendulous and usually 10.0 – 15.0 cm distributed from Sri Lanka, India and the Himalayas long, 1.5 – 2.0 mm wide. Leaves distichous, well- eastwards to southern China and southern Japan, and spaced, up to 0.5 cm apart, blade oblong, with southwards to the Philippines and Indonesia (Kumar purple-red spots on the abaxial leaf surface, 1.5 – et al. 2014;Govaertset al. 2016;Raskoti2016). 1.6×0.6– 0.8 cm, apex acute, apiculate. Inflorescence Although a small genus, the generic and interspecific sub-umbellate, 2 – 3-flowered; peduncle c. 1.0 cm, relationships are not well understood (Seidenfaden upper part thicker, lower part with 2 cupular sheaths 1988; Tsi 1996; Pridgeon et al. 2014; Zou et al. 2015). with purple-red spots; floral bracts ovate-triangular, Gastrochilus gongshanensis Z.H.Tsi is an interesting c. 1.5 mm, membranous; pedicel and ovary yellow- species that was only known from the type specimen green with purple-red spots, 7.2 – 12.9 mm long. until recently, and because this specimen poorly Flower yellowish, with purple speckles or irregular preserved, the key morphological characters of this blotches; hypochile white with purple spots and species were hard to interpret (Tsi 1996). As far as we purple margins, dark violet underneath the sac; can tell, there had been no subsequent collections of epichile white with sparse purple spots; column with this species since 1996. During recent field work in the purple spots. Dorsal sepal sub-elliptic, concave, 6.3 – Gaoligong Mountains in western Yunnan in 2016, an 7.9 × 4.5 – 5.5 mm, 1-veined, apex acute; lateral unusual species of Gastrochilus was discovered. It was sepals similar to dorsal sepal, 6.9 – 7.8 × 4.3 – 5.5 identified as a member of the section Microphyllae, mm, 1-veined, apex acute; petals sub-obovate, 5.8 – which is characterised by pendulous stems and nu- 8.1×4.4– 5.1 mm, 1-veined, apex rounded. Lip merous distantly spaced leaves (Tsi 1996; Kumar et al. distinctly divided into a saccate hypochile and a 2014). After a comprehensive review of literature and broad, flat epichile; hypochile nearly subglobose, herbarium specimens, we have finally confirmed that with 3 ridges on the abaxial surface, densely hairy our collection matched the little-known near entrance, 7.0 – 8.4 mm long, 4.3 – 5.1 mm wide; G. gongshanensis. We hereby present an updated epichile reniform, 5.4 – 6.0×9.8– 12.5 mm, margin description based on fresh material, along with a and adaxial surface covered with short dense hairs colour plate to facilitate its recognition. and with a central, yellow, densely papillate-hairy Accepted for publication 3 April 2019. 1 Yunnan Forestry Technological College, Jindian Road, Panlong District, Kunming, Yunnan, 650000, China. 2 Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, 666303, Yunnan, China. 3 Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Lam Kam Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong, China. 4 Laboratory of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, China. e-mail: [email protected] © The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2019 21 Page 2 of 4 KEW BULLETIN (2019) 74:21 Fig. 1. Gastrochilus gongshanensis. A habit; B inflorescence; C flower; D sepals and petals; E leaves, abaxial and adaxial surface; F fruits; G anther caps; H pollinarium. PHOTOS: Q. LIU. © The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2019 KEW BULLETIN (2019) 74:21 Page 3 of 4 21 cushion extending onto the hypochile, apex round- described in enough detail in the original description, ed and broadly emarginate. Column stout, c. 1 mm however, and due to the extremely poor state of the long; anther cap galeate with recurved acuminate type specimen, it was not possible to conduct a apex, 1.8 – 2.0 × 2.0 – 2.4 mm; pollinia 2, c. 1.0 mm detailed study on this species. Now that fresh material in diam.; stipe elongate, c. 2.4 mm long; viscidium has become available, a detailed description of the elliptic, thick and bilobed; rostellum bilobed with species including the leaf and flower colour, leaf apex acuminate apex, and extended into a horn-like awn shape, and features of pollinia, anther cap and from the centre of each lobe (obvious in lateral rostellum are provided here. On the basis of the long view). Capsules clavate with 3 ridges, 20.2 – 22.4 × and pendulous stem, Gastrochilus gongshanensis can be 7.2 – 7.3 mm. Fig. 1. placed in section Microphyllae (Tsi 1996). Morpholog- ically, it shows a close affinity to G. sinensis Z.H.Tsi, SPECIMEN EXAMINED. CHINA, Da Xing-Di Town, Lushui G. formosanus (Hayata) Hayata, G. saccatus Z.H.Tsi and county, Nujiang Autonomous Prefecture, 2000 m, 20 G. nanchuanensis Z.H.Tsi. However, it is characterised March 2016, Q. Liu 330 (HITBC!). by big flowers with a dark purple floor of the HABITAT. Gastrochilus gongshanensisis is found on hypochile. It differs from G. sinensis by its rocks and tree trunks at 2000 – 3200 m elevation subglobose hypochile with the apex not bent in subtropical monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forward (hypochile subconic and the apex bent forest. Associated species were Cyclobalanopsis glauca slightly forward in G. sinensis), from G. formosanus (Thunb.) Oerst., Lithocarpus variolosus (Franch.) by dense hairs near the entrance of the hypochile Chun, Tetracentron sinense Oliv., Michelia figo (Lour.) (hairs absent at the entrance of the hypochile in Spreng., Ilex chinensis Sims, Vaccinium bracteatum G. formosanus), from G. saccatus by dense hairs near Thunb., Schefflera heptaphylla (L.) Frodin, the entrance of the hypochile and three ridges on Damnacanthus indicus C.F.Gaertn. and Ardisia japon- the abaxial surface of the hypochile (hairs absent ica (Thunb.) Blume. at the entrance of the hypochile and four ridges PHENOLOGY. Flowering from March to April, fruiting present on the abaxial surface of the hypochile in from April to May in the following year. G. saccatus), and from G. nanchuanensis by its ETYMOLOGY. Named for Gongshan County of Nujiang epichile with a rounded and broadly emarginate Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province from where apex and the subglobose hypochile (apex of the type was collected. epichile subtruncate and deeply 2-lobed, hypochile DISCUSSION. Only a single specimen of this species subconic in G. nanchuanensis)(Tsi1996;Chenet al. previously existed, on which the protologue was based 2009). Differences between the five species listed (Tsi 1996). Leaf and flower characteristics were not above are compared in Table 1. Table 1. Morphological characters of Gastrochilus gongshanensis and related species. Character G. gongshanensis G. sinensis G. saccatus G. nanchuanensis G. formosanus Plant height 10 – 15 10 – 20 3 – 94– 710– 30 (cm) Leaf outline oblong elliptic elliptic elliptic oblong Leaf apex acuminate with 1 acuminate with 3 awns acuminate with 3 acuminate with 3 acuminate with 1 awn awns awns awn Sepal size (mm) 7.1 × 5.0 4.5 × 2.5 4.8 × 2.8 4.2 × 3.5 5.9 × 3.2 Epichile reniform, reniform, densely reniform, suborbicular, triangular, densely short short hair with a densely short densely short hair densely hair with a central cushion hair with a with a central papillate-hair yellow densely central cushion on cushion papillate-hairy cushion extending to cushion ex- extending to hypochile, apex tending to hypochile deeply 2- lobed hypochile Hypochile subglobose, subconical, apex bent cupular subconical subcupular densely hairy forward and densely near entrance hairy near entrance Flowering period March – April October June – July December All year © The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2019 21 Page 4 of 4 KEW BULLETIN (2019) 74:21 A key to the species of Gastrochilus section Microphyllae 1.