Search

Four new orchid species from Madagascar are described and illustrated. Notes on the distribution, ecology, and conservation status are provided. Bulbophyllum uroplatoides Hermans & G. A. Fischer, B. histrionicum Reichenbach f. ex G. A. Fischer & P. J. Cribb, and B. senghasii G. A. Fischer & Sieder belong to section Calamaria Schlechter, whereas B. bryophytoides G. A. Fischer & Andriantiana belongs to section Lichenophylax Schlechter. Bulbophyllum uroplatoides Hermans & G. A. Fischer is related to B. cardiobulbum Bosser, but differs in the thickened racemes, overall plant size, the shape of the sepals, petals, and lip, and coloration. Bulbophyllum histrionicum Reichenbach f. ex G. A. Fischer & P. J. Cribb was previously recognized by Reichenbach as a new species, but was never formally described. It is characterized by its large, orbicular to somewhat ovoid pseudobulbs that are green flushed with red, large, ovate-oblong to ovate-lanceolate leaves, red floral bracts, long sepals, narrowly triangular petals, and glabrous lip. Bulbophyllum senghasii G. A. Fischer & Sieder has orbicular, non-compressed bifoliate pseudobulbs, flowers with greenish yellow sepals that are spotted with dark brown on the outside, and an elliptic lip that is not compressed in the middle and has erose rather than long-ciliate margins and falcate rather than straight stelidia. Bulbophyllum bryophytoides G. A. Fischer & Andriantiana is a very tiny plant distinguishable from other species of section Lichenophylax by its densely long-ciliate petals and its ciliate lip that lacks a median callus and has a glabrous surface.

†Background Linnaeus developed a robust system for naming plants and a useful, if mechanical, system for classifying them. His binomial nomenclature proved the catalyst for the rapid development of our knowledge of orchids, with his work on the family dating back to 1737 in the first edition of his Genera Plantarum. His first work devoted to orchids, indeed the first monograph of the family, was published in 1740 and formed the basis for his account in Species Plantarum, published in 1753, in which he gave a binomial name to each species. Given the overwhelming number of orchids, he included surprisingly few ‐ only 62 mostly European species ‐ in Species Plantarum, his seminal work on the plants of the world. This reflects the European origin of modern botany and the concentration of extra-European exploration on other matters, such as conquest, gold and useful plants. Nevertheless, the scope of Linnaeus’ work is broad, including plants from as far afield as India, Japan, China and the Philippines to the east, and eastern Canada, the West Indies and northern South America to the west. In his later publications he described and named a further 45 orchids, mostly from Europe, South Africa and the tropical Americas. †Scope The philosophical basis of Linnaeus’ work on orchids is discussed and his contribution to our knowledge of the family assessed. His generic and species concepts are considered in the light of current systematic ideas, but his adoption of binomial nomenclature for all plants is his lasting legacy.

Resupination is the orientation of zygomorphic flowers during development so that the median petal obtains the lowermost position in the mature flower. Despite its evolutionary and ecological significance, resupination has rarely been studied in a phylogenetic context. Ten types of resupination occur among the 210 species of the orchid genus Bulbophyllum on Madagascar. We investigated the evolution of resupination in a representative sample of these species by first reconstructing a combined nrITS and cpDNA phylogeny for a sectional reclassification and then plotting the different types of inflorescence development, which correlated well with main clades. Resupination by apical drooping of the rachis appears to have evolved from apical drooping of the peduncle. Erect inflorescences with resupinate flowers seem to have evolved several times into either erect inflorescences with (partly) non-resupinate flowers or pendulous inflorescences with resupinate flowers.

We are now entering a time of immense environmental upheaval in which, increasingly, experts are required to provide conservation assessments. Quantitative assessment of trends in species' range and abundance is costly, requiring extensive field studies over a long period of time. Unfortunately, many species are only known through a few "chance" sightings or a handful of specimens, and therefore extinction may be even harder to ascertain. Several methods have been proposed for estimating the probability of extinction. However, comparison within and between species is difficult because of variations in sighting rates. We applied a probabilistic method that incorporates sighting rate to the sighting record of Vietnamese slipper orchids (Paphiopedilum). The method generates a probability that another sighting will occur given the previous sighting rate and the time since last observation. This allows greater comparability between species discovered at different times. Its predictions were more highly correlated with the World Conservation Union criteria than previous methods. Trends in data collection and the political climate of a country, which affects access to material, are important potential sources of variation that affect sighting rates. A lack of understanding of the process by which data are generated makes inferring extinction from sighting records difficult because extinction status depends on how the sighting rate varies. However, such methods allow rapid conservation prioritization of taxa that are poorly known and would otherwise go unassessed. © 2006 Society for Conservation Biology.

Phylogenetic relationships within the orchid genus Pleione were reconstructed using maximum parsimony analyses of plastid and nuclear DNA and morphology for 20 taxa to evaluate infrageneric groups, controversial species delimitations, and parentage of several putative wild hybrids. Separate analyses of each data set produced mainly congruent clades when P. × confusa and the Chinese accession of P. hookeriana were excluded. Analysis of the combined data indicated that traditional divisions of the genus into various subgenera and sections are supported when they are based on apomorphic characters. Sections found to be paraphyletic appear to be based on homoplasious and plesiomorphic characters. For an infrageneric classification of Pleione based on phylogenetic relationships three groups are suggested. Taxa within the P. bulbocodioides complex do not show much molecular divergence. Pleione maculata and P. praecox are proposed to be the paternal and maternal parent of P. × lagenaria, respectively, a...

A new species of Phragmipedium, P. andreettae, is described and illustrated from northwestern Ecuador and its affinities are discussed. The new species is closely allied to P. fischeri, from which it differs by the narrow leaves, the pale rose to white flowers, the elliptic to obovate petals with reflexed margins, the reflexed margin of the dorsal sepal, the narrower and pale rose lip, and the longer than broad and bifid staminode. Se describe y se ilustra la nueva especie Phragmipedium andreettae, de la región noroccidental de Ecuador, y se discuten sus afinidades. La nueva especie está estrechamente relacionada con P. fischeri, de la cual difiere por las hojas más angostas, las flores rosado pálido a blanco, los pétalos elípticos a obovados con márgenes reflexos, el margen reflexo del sépalo dorsal, el labelo rosado pálido más angosto y el estaminodio más largo que ancho y bífido en el ápice.

Bulbophyllum fendlerianum is newly described based on a collection of August Fendler in Venezuela, deposited at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was previously confused with B. manarae, but differs significantly from the latter species in its petal and lip shape, particularly the callus.