Cheirostylis parvifolia Lindl.inEdwards ’s

Bhattacharjee, Avishek, 2012, On the status of some species of Cheirostylis Blume (Orchidaceae) from India, Candollea 67 (1), pp. 31-35 : 32

Cheirostylis parvifolia Lindl.inEdwards ’s Bot.Reg. 25: 19. 1839.

Typus: SRI LANKA “ Ceylon ”: Loddiges s.n. (holo-: K [K000718267], photo!) .

= Cheirostylis seidenfadeniana C. S. Kumar & F. N. Rasm. in Nordic J. Bot. 7: 409. 1987.

Typus: INDIA. Kerala: Ponmudi, Trivandrum Dist. , 950 m, 25.X. 1983, C. Sathish Kumar CU 36960 (holo-: TBGT; iso-: C, CALI), syn. nov..

Distribution. – India: Kerala, Maharashtra (fide JAYAWEERA, 1981;P UNEKAR, 2002);SriLanka.

Note. – SATHISH KUMAR & RASMUSSEN (1987) distinguished C. seidenfadeniana from C. parvifolia on the basis of epichile with entire lobules and 2 conspicuous tufts of hairs at its base. The authors mentioned that the material of C. parvifolia was very scarce from India and they could consult only 3 old herbarium specimens including the type (Loddiges s.n., K) which was in very bad condition. However, it has been found that the holotype including its associated illustrations of flower and dissected floral parts (on the type sheet) is sufficient for its purpose and there is no need of epitypification at present. During the present work, critical study of the live specimens of C. seidenfadeniana provided by Dr. C. Sathish Kumar (first author of C. seidenfadeniana ) revealed that the minute tufts of hairs at the base of epichile can be seen only in live, pickled or very well preserved specimens but not in the old herbarium specimens. The present study also reveals that the margin of the epichile lobules of C. seidenfadeniana varies ( Fig. 1 ) from nearly entire to 2-4 lacerate which clearly indicates that C. seidenfadeniana and C. parvifolia are the same species. Thus, C. seidenfadeniana is treated here as synonym of C. parvifolia . In spite of author’s personal visit to CALI and TBGT, the holotype and isotype(s) of C. seidenfadeniana could not be located as claimed in the protologue. Dr. Olof Ryding, Curator of Vascular Plants of C also confirmed the unavailability of any type specimen of C. seidenfadeniana in C. Surprisingly, a specimen bearing the same collection number and field data (excepting the date which is prior to publication of C. seidenfadeniana ) as that of the holotype and isotypes of C. seidenfadeniana has been located at K. In absence of all the designated types (holotype and isotypes), the K-specimen may be selected as lectotype (if there is no doubt that it was actually used while describing C. seidenfadeniana ) or as neotype of C. seidenfadeniana . For the time being the lecto-or neotypification has not been done in the present paper with a hope that the types may be found in near future. This rare species is presently grown and conserved in the Orchidarium of Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute , Thiruvananthapuram , Kerala, India by Dr. Sathish Kumar and his co-workers.

Figures

Fig. 1. – Comparison plate: ‘Cheirostylis chinensis var. glabra Bhaumik & M. K. Pathak’. A. Labellum; B. Petal; C. Column with anther-cap – Cheirostylis moniliformis (Griff.) Seidenf.; D-E. Labellum; F. Petal; G. Column – ‘Cheirostylis seidenfadeniana C. S. Kumar & F. N. Rasm.’; H. Labellum – Cheirostylis parvifolia Lindl.; I-J. Labellum. [A-C: after BHAUMIK & PATHAK, 2006; D, F-G: A. Bhattacharjee 34819 A, CL; E: A. Bhattacharjee 34819 B, CAL; H: after SATHISH KUMR & RASMUSSEN,1987; I: Sathish Kumar s.n., TBGT, spirit; J: A. Bhattacharjee 38142 A, CAL]