Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 June 2024 | 16(6): 25470–25473
ISSN 0974-7907
(Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8207.16.6.25470-25473
#8207 | Received 27 September 2022 | Final received 22 April 2024 |
Finally accepted 15 May 2024
Epipogium Borkh. (Orchidaceae):
a new generic record for Andhra Pradesh, India
P. Janaki Rao 1, J. Prakasa Rao 2 & S.B. Padal
3
1 Department of Botany, Government
Degree College, Paderu, Alluri Sitarama Raju District, Andhra Pradesh 531024, India.
2,3 Department of Botany, Andhra
University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh 530003, India.
1 janakiraopujari57@gmail.com, 2
jprakasarao@gmail.com (corresponding author), 3 sbpadal08@gmail.com
Editor: Pankaj Kumar, Texas Tech University,
Lubbock, USA. Date of publication: 26 June 2024
(online & print)
Citation: Rao,
P.J., J.P. Rao & S.B. Padal (2024). Epipogium Borkh. (Orchidaceae): a new generic record for Andhra Pradesh,
India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 16(6): 25470–25473. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8207.16.6.25470-25473
Copyright: © Rao et al. 2024. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License. JoTT
allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any
medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of
publication.
Funding: Counsel for Scientific and Industrial Research-Human Resource
Developmental Group (CSIR-HRDG) & University Grant Commission (UGC).
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: First author is thankful to the
Counsel for Scientific and Industrial Research-Human Resource Developmental
Group (CSIR-HRDG) for providing financial support for this research and also grateful to the local person Pujari Surya Rao for his
great help in finding this collection. Second author is grateful to the
University Grant Commission (UGC) for financial assistance. Authors are also
obliged to the anonymous reviewers and the subject editor of the article.
Abstract: Epipogium roseum
(D.Don) Lindl.,
an ephemeral, achlorophyllous, mycoheterotrophic,
terrestrial orchid is reported as a new state record after its first collection
from the Paderu hills of Andhra Pradesh, India.
Detailed descriptions, information on the type, ecology, photographs, and
details of voucher specimens are provided.
Keywords: Achlorophyllous, Alluri Sitharama Raju District, Eastern Ghats, Epidendroideae,
Ephemeral, Mycoheterotrophic, Paderu
hills, Photosynthesis, terrestrial orchid.
Orchidaceae is the second
largest family of flowering plants, with around 29,481 species found worldwide
(Kumar 2024) and India has 1,256 species belonging to 155 genera (Singh et al.
2019). Orchids feature a highly specialized flower structure, and unique
pollination process, a peculiar interaction with mycorrhiza, and tiny seeds
that lack reserve food stores (Arditti & Ghani 2000). This fungus-dependent
life of leafless orchids is known as the mycoheterotrophic
mode of growth because they cannot photosynthesise due to a lack of chlorophyll
pigments (Jalal & Jayanthi 2013).
The genus Epipogium Borkh. is an ephemeral, achlorophyllous, mycoheterotrophic, terrestrial orchid that belongs to the
family Orchidaceae (Chase et al. 2015); usually grows
in organic matter-rich habitats of evergreen and semi-evergreen forests and is
distributed in tropical Africa, tropical & temperate Asia, Australia, and
Europe (POWO 2024). So far, this genus is represented by six species: Epipogium aphyllum
Sw., E. japonicum Makino, E. kentingense
T.P.Lin & Shu H.Wu,
E. meridianum T.P.Lin,
E. roseum (D.Don) Lindl., and E. taiwanense T.C.Hsu
(Wu et al. 2020; POWO 2024; IPNI 2024). India has only
three species, i.e., E. aphyllum
Sw., E. japonicum
Makino, and E. roseum
(D.Don) Lindl. (Kumar et
al. 2019). Odisha and Tamil Nadu have E. roseum from
the Eastern Ghats region (Truptirekha et al. 2017), hence the occurrence in Andhra Pradesh was not unexpected, however there is not report of this genus from this state (Venkaiah
et al. 2020).
Materials and Methods
In July 2021, during field explorations in
the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, the first author discovered an interesting
ground orchid in bloom in the Paderu hill ranges
(Figure 1). After careful examination of literature, protologue, and herbarium
specimens (Lindley 1857; Prasad et al. 2019; Singh et al. 2019; POWO 2024), it
was identified as Epipogium roseum. Notably, this genus had not been previously
recorded in Andhra Pradesh, prompting the documentation of this finding as a
new generic record and addition to the state’s flora. A voucher specimen was
prepared according to standard methods (Jain & Rao 1977) and stored in the
Herbarium (AUV) at Andhra University. Photographs were captured with a Canon
500D camera, and a location map was created using ArcMap software.
Results
Epipogium roseum (D.Don) Lindl.
J. Proc. Linn. Soc., Bot. 1: 177 (1857). Limodorum roseum D.Don, Prodr.Fl. Nepal. 30. 1825;
Murugan et al., Indian J. Forestry 18(2): 174. 1995. Epigonium nutans
(Blume) Rchb.f., Bonplandia
5: 36. 1857; Hook.f., FI. Brit. India 6: 124. 1890; C.E.C.Fisch. FL. Madras 1460. 1928. Epipogium
tuberosum Duthie, Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. (Calcutta) 9(2): 151.1906. Epipogium africanus Schltr.,
Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 45: 399. 1911. Epipogium
sessanum S.N.Hegde
& A.N.Rao, L. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 3: 598. 1982. Epipogium indicum H.J.Chowdhery, G.D.Pal & G.S.Giri, Nordic. Bot. 13: 419. 1993. (Image 2 & 3).
Type: Nepal: Wallich s.n.
(BM-Holotype).
Specimen examined:
India, Andhra
Pradesh, Alluri Sitharama Raju District, Allangiputtu Village, 18.1868oN; 82.6149oE,
elevation 1,087 m, 15 July 2021, P. Janaki Rao 23400 (AUV).
Description: A terrestrial,
ephemeral, achlorophyllous,
mycoheterotrophic, slender,
orchid, growing up to 40–50 cm in height.
Rhizome tuberous, ellipsoid, wrinkled, ca. 3–4 ×
2–3 cm, pale brown. Aerial stalk, slender,
fleshy, hollow, ca. 10–20 ×
0.6–0.7 cm, glabrous, tereteor
inflated, sterile bracts ovate to lanceolate, membranous. Inflorescence
racemose, ca.15–30 in number, ca. 15–20 × 0.5–0.6 cm.
Fertile bracts membranous, ovate-lanceolate, ca. 1–1.3 × 0.5–0.6 cm, nerves 2 or 3 purple dotted, inconspicuous. Flowers drooping, resupinate, creamy-white with a purple tinge,
not opening widely, ca.
1.3–1.5 × 0.8–0.9 cm. Pedicel ca. 0.8 × 0.1 cm, slightly recurved at the apex. Dorsal sepal
linear-lanceolate or oblanceolate,
ca. 0.7–0.8 × 0.2–0.3 cm, 3-nerved, apex sub-acute. Lateral sepals lanceolate, ca. 0.8–0.9 × 0.1–0.2 cm, margins slightly upcurved, apex acuminate. Petals 2, slightly shorter and wider than sepals, ca. 0.6–0.8 ×
0.2–0.4 cm, obtuse or apex acute. Lip ovate-lanceolate,
concave, ca. 1–1.2 × 0.6–0.7 cm, spurred
at the base, margins crenulated, midvein
prominent, slightly lobed, two densely papillose
ridges, and purple dotted. Spur ca. 0.4 × 0.2 cm, projecting backward, scrotiform or cylindrical,
parallel to the ovary, fleshy,
transparent. Column truncate, 0.2–0.3 cm long, anther sub-globose, pollinia 2, ovoid. Ovary broadly ovoid,
0.8–1 × 0.3–0.6 cm, creamy white,
ovules many. Fruit capsule, ca. 0.9–1 ×
0.5–0.6 cm, ovoid-ellipsoid, many
seeded.
Flowering and fruiting:
June-October,
the present collection of this
species along with flowering
and fruiting was observed in July.
Habitat and Ecology:
Rarely found in moist deciduous forest adjacent to the coffee, silver oak, and pepper plantations in Allangiputtu Village in Alluri Sitharama Raju District of Andhra Pradesh, with an
association of trees like Mangifera indica
L., Syzygium heyneanum (Duthie) Gamble, Pterocarpus
marsupium Roxb., Terminalia bellirica (Gaertn.) Roxb., Neolitsea foliosa (Nees)
Gamble, Diospyros sylvatica Roxb., Zanthoxylum aromaticum Miq., shrubs: Ageratina adenophora (Spreng.) R.M.King & H.Rob., Colebrookea oppositifolia G.Lodd., Clausena heptaphylla (Roxb.) Wight & Arn., Lantana
camara L., Eupatorium
odoratum L., climbers:
Clematis gouriana Roxb. ex DC., Clematis smilacifolia Wall., Clematis
zeylanica (L.) Poir.,
Phanera vahlii (Wight &Arn.) Benth., Dioscorea
pentaphylla L., herbs;
Orthosiphon rubicundus (D.Don) Benth., Globba bulbifera Roxb., and Curculigo orchioides Gaertn.
Distribution: Angola, Borneo, Cameroon,
Fiji, Ghana, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Hainan, India, Japan, Jawa, Kenya, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Liberia, Malawi, Malaya, Maluku,
Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, New Caledonia,
New Guinea, New South Wales, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Queensland,
Solomon Is., Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sulawesi, Sumatera,
Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tibet, Uganda, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Zaïre (POWO 2024). In India, it was
reported from Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, West Bengal (Kar et
al. 2017; Prasad et al. 2019; Singh et al. 2019).
Discussion
The distribution of E. roseum is quite diverse, ranging from tropical to chilly temperate climates of India, and rarely found in the Eastern Ghats region of Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh (present report) between 900–3,000 m (Kuruppusamy et al. 2009; Jalal & Jayanthi
2013; Kar et al. 2017).
For figure & images - - click here for full PDF
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