Habenaria tibetica Schltr. ex Limpricht, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 12: 338. 1922.

Pandey, Tirtha Raj & Jin, Xiao-Hua, 2021, Taxonomic revision of Habenaria josephi group (sect. Diphyllae s. l.) in the Pan-Himalaya, PhytoKeys 175, pp. 109-136 : 109

8. Habenaria tibetica Schltr. ex Limpricht, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 12: 338. 1922.

Type.

China, Kangding , 3600 m elev., 13 July 1953, X.L. Jiang 36260 (neotype designated here: PE 00340847!) (Fig. 18 ) .

Description.

Terrestrial herbs, 12-40 cm tall. Tubers narrowly oblong to ellipsoid. Stems mostly underground, papillate-hairy. Leaves 2, nearly opposite, basal; prominent white veins on adaxial surface, base abruptly narrowed and amplexicaul; leaf blade wide ovate or orbicular, 2.5-6.5 cm long, 2.5-7 cm wide, apex obtuse or acute. Inflorescence 10-35 cm long, laxly 2-10-flowered; rachis 2-15 cm long, papillate-hairy; floral bracts lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, apex acuminate. Flowers yellowish-green; ovary and pedicel strongly arcuate, 1.5-2 cm long, pubescent. Dorsal sepal forming hood with petals, ovate, concave, 7-9 mm long, 4-5 mm wide, apex subobtuse; lateral sepals reflexed, obliquely ovate, 8-11 mm long, 4-5 mm wide, apex acuminate. Petals shallowly 2-lobed; upper lobe oblique, oblong-lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 8-10 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, margin papillate-ciliate, apex subacute; lower lobe ca. 1.5 mm long; lip deeply 3-lobed, spurred, lobes reflexed over base; lateral lobes linear-filiform, 2-4 cm long, curled at apex; mid-lobe linear, 1-2 cm long; spur cylindrical-clavate, 1.5-2.5 cm long, often horizontal and curved upwards. Column stout, anthers parallel; pollinia granular; caudicles stout, elongated; stigma processes lingulate. (Fig. 19 ).

Phenology.

Flowering from June to August.

Habitat.

Thickets, alpine grasslands; 3200-4900 m elev.

Distribution.

N and S Hengduan, also in NE Qinghai of China. (Fig. 20 ).

More illustrations.

Wu et al. (2010, fig. 195, 5-7).

Additional specimens examined.

N HENGDUAN: Gonjo, 3200 m elev., Vegetation Team of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau 9671 (PE); Gonjo, 3800 m elev., 2010, Kham Expedition 10-1872 (PE); Songpan, 3835 m elev., 2002, Y.B. Luo 827 (PE); Xiaojin, Hanniu Region, 3400 m elev., 1959, Z.G. Liu 0359 (PE). S HENGDUAN: Kangding, Muya Region, A-Tai Xiang, 3560 m elev., 1982, Lang et al. 981 (PE, KUN).

Note.

According to the protologue, Habenaria tibetica was described by Schlechter, based on two specimens from China: East Tibet, Ta tsien lu, 3600 m elev., Limpricht 2303 and Batang-Litang, 4800-4900 m elev., Limpricht 2277 ( Limpricht 1922); consequently, both of these are syntypes as per Art. 9.6 of the ICN ( Turland et al. 2018). Many of the type specimens, described by Schlechter together with H. tibetica (e.g. Platanthera minax Schltr. & P. winkleriana Schltr.), were believed to be kept at B and later, their duplicate specimens were recovered at other European herbaria WU and WRSL; however, despite an extensive search, none of the type materials of H. tibetica could be located in any of the world’s major herbaria and could have been destroyed during the Second World War at B. Furthermore, we were unable to find any other original material related to the species. Thus, assuming that all the original material of H. tibetica is lost, it warrants designating a neotype, which is here accomplished. For that purpose, X.L. Jiang 36260 (PE) is designated the neotype according to Art. 9.8 of the ICN ( Turland et al. 2018); this specimen was also collected from the original type locality (Kangding, Sichuan). The designated neotype specimen conforms to the description in the protologue and is consistent with the current application of the taxon name (e.g. Chen and Cribb 2009).

Figures

Figure 18. Neotype of Habenaria tibetica Schltr. ex Limpricht X. L. Jiang 36260 (PE 00340847) (Photographed by T. R. Pandey).

Figure 19. Habenaria tibetica A habit B floral bract C pedicellate ovary with spur D petal E dorsal sepal F lateral sepal G lip (A photographed from the neotype X. L. Jiang 36260, PE B-G drawn from the same specimen by T. R. Pandey).

Figure 20. Distribution of Habenaria tibetica (black circles) in the Pan-Himalaya.