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

 

References

 

Arditti, J. & A.K.A. Ghani (2000). Numerical and physical properties of orchid seeds and their biological implications. New Phytologist 145: 367–421.

Chase, M.W., K.M. Cameron, J.V. Freudenstein, A.M. Pridgeon, G. Salzar, C.V. Berg & A. Schuiteman, (2015). An updated classification of Orchdaceae. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 177(2): 151–174.

IPNI (2024). International Plant Names Index. Published on the Internet http://www.ipni.org, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries and Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 14 May 2024.

Jain, S.K. & R.R. Rao (1976). A Hand Book of Field and Herbarium Methods. Today and Tomorrow’s Printers and Publishers, New Delhi, 150 pp.

Jalal, J.S. & J. Jayanthi (2013). Current status and distribution of mycoheterotrophic Orchids of India. Richardiana 9: 137–155.

Kar, T., M. Mohan & K.K. Mandal (2017). Disperis and Epipogium (Orchidaceae): two new generic record for the flora of Odisha. Nelumbo 59(2): 159–163. https://doi.org/10.20324/nelumbo/v59/2017/120461

Kumar A., G. Krishna & V. Ranjan (2019). A third species of Epipogium (Orchidaceae) added to the Indian flora. Richardiana 3: 17– 24.

Kumar, P. (2024). Notes on Asian Orchidaceae-I: Cremastra appendiculata var. appendiculata and Hemipilia nana. Journal of Botanical Taxonomy and Geobotany (Feddes Repertorium): 202300042.R3 (early view). https://doi.org/10.1002/fedr.202300042

Kuruppusamy, S., G. Muthuraja & K.M. Rajasekaran (2009). Status of Orchids on Kolli Hills of Eastern Ghats, Tamil Nadu. ENVIS-EPTRI-ENVIS News letter 15(3): 3–5.

Lindley, J. (1857). The Orchidology of India. Journal of the proceedings of the Linnean Society. Botany 1: 177.

POWO (2024). Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/. Retrieved 14 May 2024.

Prasad K., K. Subbiah & T. Pullaiah (2019). Orchids of Eastern Ghats, India. Scientific Publishers.

Singh, S.K., D.K. Agrawala, J.S. Jalal, S.S. Dash, A.A. Mao & P. Singh (2019). Orchids of India-A Pictorial Guide. Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, 548 pp.

Venkaiah, M., J.P. Rao, M.T. Naidu, R. Prameela, P.J. Rao & S.B. Padal (2020). Orchid Diversity in the Eastern Ghats of Northern Andhra Pradesh, India, pp. 189–206. In: Khasim, S., S. Hegde, M. González-Arnao & K. Thammasiri (eds). Orchid Biology: Recent Trends & Challenges. Springer, Singapore, 547 pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-98132-9456-1_10

Wu, X., Q. Liu, Y. Tang, K.Chi, Y.Wang, X. Pang, Yaohua, Huang & P. Peng (2020). Epipogium taiwanense, a detail morphological description and additional new record to mainland China. Phytotaxa 453(1): 043–048. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.453.1.4