Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Bulbophyllum hainanense is an addition to the Flora of Vietnam. Previously, Vietnamese material of this species was listed as Bulbophyllum hymenanthum, a similar-looking species. This paper provides a description and illustration of the Vietnamese material of B. hainanense.   

The uncontrolled logging in Peninsular Malaysia and the resulting mudslides in the lowland areas have been perilous, not to just humans, but also to another biodiversity, including the wild orchids. Their survival in these highly depleted areas is being overlooked due to the inaccessible and harsh environment. This paper reports on the rescue of orchids at risk from the disturbed forests for ex-situ conservation, the identification of the diversity of orchids and the evaluation of the influence of micro-climatic changes induced by clear-cut logging towards the resilience of orchids in the flood-disturbed secondary forests and logged forests in Terengganu and Kelantan, located at the central region of Peninsular Malaysia, where the forest destruction by logging activities has been extensive. 109 orchid species belonging to 40 genera were collected from the disturbed areas. The diversity and data analyses show that the disturbed secondary forests had a higher orchid density (0.0133 plants/m2) than the logged sites (0.0040 plants/m2) as the habitat conditions were more dependable. Nevertheless, the logged forests harboured a higher diversity of orchids (H=4.50 and D=0.99) of which 97.9% were epiphytes. Eleven rare species were found along with six species endemic to Peninsular Malaysia, with two species new to science. The results highlighted the factors that allow the orchids to flourish or suffer in the disturbed forests. The logged forests had a higher ambient temperature and lower moisture level than the mud flood-disturbed and canopy-covered secondary forests. Apart from the extensive ground vegetation due to logs dragging extraction, low soil moisture and absence of leaf litter were believed to be the major attributes causing the low abundance of terrestrial orchids. The high abundance and diversity of epiphytic orchids and the large difference of their densities between the logged sites were influenced by the densities of fallen trees hosting orchid(s), disturbance-induced dryness stresses, durations of exposure to the anthropogenic-induced disturbance, and less favourable soil conditions for the terrestrial orchids.

Pleurothallis tenuisepala, a new species in subsection Acroniae, is described and compared to Pleurothallis luctuosa with which it has previously been confused. While the two species are superficially similar, they can be very easily distinguished by the size of the flowers, which are approximately 60 mm long in P. tenuisepala versus approximately 29 mm long in P. luctuosa, or the length of the sepals, which are approximately four-times the length of the petals in P. tenuisepala versus less than twice the length of the petals in P. luctuosa. The two species can also be discriminated by their nuclear internal transcribed spacer (nrITS) sequences. Pleurothallis tenuisepala occurs on Isla Gorgona off the Pacific coast of Colombia and on the western slopes of the Cordillera Occidental of the Colombian Andes, while P. luctuosa is restricted to the Cordillera de Tilarán of Costa Rica. Labellar micromorphology of both species is discussed in relation to possible pollination mechanisms.

A new species, Scaphosepalum luannae, is described, and new records for Scaphosepalum anchoriferum from Ecuador are presented. Scaphosepalum luannae is superficially similar to S. swertiifolium but it differs in the dark green leaves, conspicuously nerved at the abaxial side and shiny at the adaxial side, the sub-quadrate petals with a basal lobe at the columnar margin and the lip with a truncate base without lobes with an oblong and flat hypochile. Scaphosepalum luannae and S. anchoriferum were discovered growing sympatrically in a poorly explored cloud forest from north-western Ecuador, near the border with Colombia.

Telipogon mayoi, from the western Colombian Andes, is proposed as a new species. The species was found in “La Elvira” National Protective Forest in the Yumbo Municipality, one of the oldest protected areas in Colombia, close to the Farallones de Cali National Park, both localities in the Dapa Mountains. Specimens of Telipogon mayoi were previously misidentified as Telipogon lankesteri Ames and T. williamsii P.Ortiz, but detailed analysis of the floral morphology revealed that it is different. Telipogon mayoi is most similar to T. lankesteri but it is characterized by the crenulated margins of the leaves (vs. entire margins), the ovate oblong lip (vs. oblong lanceolate) and furcate setae on the column (vs. simple setae). We provide a description, illustrations, a plate, in situ photographs, a distribution map, and ecological notes.

As the second chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter’s South-American Orchids, a background of the orchidological work by foreign and Brazilian orchidologists in southern Brazil is outlined, as well as the history of the most important botanical institutions in this region. In order to establish coherent geographical units, the institutions, botanists and collectors mentioned in this chapter are those whose main activity concentrated in the Brazilian part of the La Plata River Basin, or in other words, the Brazilian states including and southwards of Matto Grosso, Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo. The most important figures in Schlechter’s Brazilian “network” are presented, with short biographical notes and description of their most important botanical exploits.

A new species of Lepanthes from north-western Ecuador is presented here. Lepanthes mashpica is similar to L. satyrica, with a long, descending, triangular process of the body of the lip but different in the simple and acute appendix versus the vertically bilobed appendix of L. satyrica. The species was found growing in several locations of Mashpi Reserve, a low-land cloud forest close to Quito.

This study represents the first part of a series dedicated to the work of Rudolf Schlechter on the orchid flora of South America. The historical background of Schlechter’s botanical activity is outlined, and salient aspects of his biography, as well as his main scientific relationships, in particular with Oakes Ames, and the origins of his interest in tropical America are discussed. We also present a complete bibliography relative to Schlechter’s production on the orchid floras of South American countries, with his network of orchid collectors, growers and other purveyors, and checklists of all the new taxa that he described from each individual country.

Habenaria agasthyamalaiana, a new species of terrestrial orchid is described from Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary of Agasthyamalai biosphere reserve, a part of the South-western Ghats. This species is morphologically similar to Habenaria crinifera Lindl. Detailed description and photographs are provided for identification of this new taxon.

41 new combinations, two synonyms and three lectotypifications from the genus Stichorkis are proposed. This work aimed to solve taxonomic ambiguity and nomenclatural crisis for Malesian Stichorkis.