Pholidota wenshanica S.C.Chen & Z.H.Tsi, 1988

Li, Lin, Qin, Min, Wang, Wan-Yao, Zeng, Song-Jun, Zhang, Guo-Qiang & Liu, Zhong-Jian, 2019, The taxonomic identities of Pholidota wenshanica and P. subcalceata (Orchidaceae, Coelogyninae), PhytoKeys 136, pp. 97-106 : 97

Pholidota wenshanica S.C.Chen & Z.H.Tsi Figs 1 , 2

Pholidota wenshanica S.C. Chen & Z.H. Tsi, Bull. Bot. Res. 8(1): 7, fig. 1. 1988. Type: - CHINA. Yunnan, Wenshan County, cult. in Hort. Bot. Beijing, 4 Dec. 1984, Z.H. Tsi 223 (holotype PE!).

Emended description.

Plants lithophytic, up to 35 cm high; rhizome creeping, terete, 8-10 mm in diam., enclosed by coriaceous scales. Pseudobulbs fusiform-cylindrical, 7-8 × 6-8 mm, 2 cm apart, tapering to based and top, smooth or longitudinally wrinkled when dried, base usually enclosed by coriaceous sheaths. Leaves 2 per pseudobulb, arising from pseudobulb apex, oblong-lanceolate, 25-30 × 3-3.5 cm, apex acuminate, base cuneate, lamina glossy green, more or less coriaceous; petioles 3-4.5 cm long. Inflorescence a racemose, proteranthous, glabrous, pendulous, 17-19 cm long; peduncle 3.5-4 cm long, very thin, covered by sterile bracts at base of rachis; rachis slender, 13.5-20 cm long, almost straight or weakly zig-zag, laxly 30-40-flowered; floral bracts broadly rhombic-ovate, papyraceous, 4 × 6 mm, folded along the midrib, caduceus at anthesis. Flowers pinkish white, ca. 5 mm in diam., lip salmon-pink, tinged with yellowish-brown or orangish-brown blotches. Pedicel and ovary 3-4 mm long. Sepals subequal; dorsal sepal elliptic, 5 × 3 mm, apex acute, obscurely 7-nerved; lateral sepals ovate, slightly oblique, 5-6 mm long, strongly keeled on the back, apex shortly acuminate, obscurely 7-nerved. Petals ovate, 4 × 3mm, apex obtuse, obscurely 3-5-nerved; Labellum subovate in outline, 4-5 long; hypochile deeply saccated, with 4 prominent fleshy keels or carinae; epichile transversely elliptic, 4-5 mm wide, margin inconspicuously undulate, apex deeply notched into 2 broadly rounded lobes. Column stout, 2.5-3 mm long; apex narrowly winged, foot absent; stelidia obtuse, up margin with an inconspicuous rounded wing near the apex; anther incumbent, top retuse to rounded; pollinia 4 in 2 pairs, connected by caudicles to a sticky substance, pyriform, ca 0.5 by 0.4 mm; stigma broadly ovate; rostellum large, broadly triangular. Flowering in late November and early December. Capsule not seen.

Distribution and habitat.

Pholidota wenshanica is currently known only from SE Yunnan (Wenshan) and SW Guangxi (Longzhou), China, where it grows as epiphyte on tree trunks or as lithophyte on somewhat shady slopes or on the edge of forests, often in exposed places, with elevations ranging from 1200 m to 1500 m a.s.l.

Additional specimens examined.

China. Yunnan, Malipo County, Tiechang Town, at 1500 m alt., 13 Dec. 1992, Tsi s.n. (PE). China. Yunnan, precise locality unknown, Nov. 2001, HK Kadoorie Team 2361 (PE). China. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Longzhou County, May 2001, HK Kadoorie PT 714 (PE).

Figures

Figure 1. The types and selected specimens of P. wenshanica (A-C), Pholidota leveilleana (D-F) and P. subcalceata (G-I) A holotype sheet of P. wenshanica B China, Guangxi, Longzhou, HK Kadoorie PT 714 (PE) C China, Yunnan, HK Kadoorie Team 2361 (PE) D holotype sheet of P. leveilleana E China, Guangxi, China-UK Expedition Team ASBK 365 (IBK) F China, Guangxi, Y. S. Huang Y 1229 (IBK) G Holotype sheet of P. subcalceata H isotype sheet of P. subcalceata I Vietnam, Kontum, L. V. Averyanov & al., VH 292 (P).

Figure 2. The morphology of Pholidota leveilleana (A, C, E-H) and P. wenshanica (B, D, I-L) A-B habit C-D inflorescences E, I flower, frontal view F, J column and lip, lateral view G, K lip, ventral view H, L column, front view. Scale bars: 5 mm (E, I), 3 mm (F-H, J-L).