Oeceoclades beravensis

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Oeceoclades beravensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Epidendroideae
Tribe: Cymbidieae
Subtribe: Eulophiinae
Genus: Oeceoclades
Species:O. beravensis
Binomial name
Oeceoclades beravensis
(Rchb.f.) R.Bone & Buerki
Synonyms [1]
  • Eulophia beravensisRchb.f.
  • Graphorkis beravensis(Rchb.f.) Kuntze
  • Lissochilus beravensis(Rchb.f.) H.Perrier

Oeceoclades beravensis is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus Oeceoclades that is endemic to the southern and western Madagascar where it grows in the sandy soils of western dry forests and wooded grasslands. This species has cane-like stems and forms dense clumps in the understorey, a feature that makes it unique among the Eulophiinae species found in Madagascar. Like other orchid species in Eulophia and Oeceoclades that are adapted to arid climates, O. beravensis has narrow and coriaceous (leathery and stiff, but flexible) leaves with minute serrations. [1]

<i>Oeceoclades</i> genus of plants

Oeceoclades, collectively known as the monk orchids, is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It is related to Eulophia and like that genus is mostly terrestrial in habit. A few species extend into very arid environments, unusual for an orchid.

Endemism Ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location or habitat

Endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution. An alternative term for a species that is endemic is precinctive, which applies to species that are restricted to a defined geographical area.

Madagascar island nation off the coast of Southeast Africa, in the Indian Ocean

Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, and previously known as the Malagasy Republic, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately 400 kilometres off the coast of East Africa. The nation comprises the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from the Indian subcontinent around 88 million years ago, allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation. Consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot; over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. The island's diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by the encroachment of the rapidly growing human population and other environmental threats.

Because of habitat loss and existing threats to the dry forests and grasslands of Madagascar, O. beravensis was preliminarily assessed as "Near Threatened" using the International Union for Conservation of Nature guidelines. [1]

Near-threatened species IUCN conservation category

A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be considered threatened with extinction in the near future, although it does not currently qualify for the threatened status. The IUCN notes the importance of re-evaluating near-threatened taxon at appropriate intervals.

International Union for Conservation of Nature international organisation

The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, and education. IUCN's mission is to "influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable".

It was first described by the German botanist Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach in 1881 as Eulophia beravensis and later moved to the genus Lissochilus by the French botanist Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie in 1941. It was overlooked by Leslie Andrew Garay and Peter Taylor when they reinstated the genus Oeceoclades in 1976 and finally transferred to that genus in 2014 by Ruth Bone and Sven Buerki. [1]

Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach German botanist

Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach was a botanist and the foremost German orchidologist of the 19th century. His father Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach was also a well-known botanist.

Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie French botanist

Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie was a French botanist who specialized in the plants of Madagascar.

Leslie Andrew Garay was an American botanist. He is the retired curator of the Oakes Ames Orchid Herbarium at Harvard University, where he succeeded Charles Schweinfurth in 1958. In 1957 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Related Research Articles

<i>Oeceoclades decaryana</i> species of plant

Oeceoclades decaryana is a terrestrial orchid species of the genus Oeceoclades that is native throughout southern and southeastern Africa. It can be found growing in Kenya, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was first described by the French botanist Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie in 1935 as a species in the genus Eulophia. He later transferred this species to the genus Lissochilus in 1941, followed by another transfer to the genus Eulophidium in 1957 by the English botanist V.S. Summerhayes in 1957. When Leslie Andrew Garay and Peter Taylor revised the genus Oeceoclades in 1976, they transferred this species to the expanded Oeceoclades.

<i>Eulophia pulchra</i> species of plant

Eulophila pulchra, commonly known as the gonzo orchid, is a plant in the orchid family and is native to areas from Tanzania and Mozambique to the Western Pacific Ocean. It is a terrestrial orchid with crowded, above-ground pseudobulbs, two or three leaves and pale yellowish green flowers with dull purple or red markings. It grows in plant litter in rainforests.

Eulophiinae subtribe of plants

Eulophiinae is an orchid subtribe in the tribe Cymbidieae. It comprises 270 species divided into nine genera, with the genus Eulophia comprising 60% of these species.

<i>Oeceoclades gracillima</i> species of plant

Oeceoclades gracillima, sometimes known in horticulture by the synonym Oeceoclades roseovariegata, is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus Oeceoclades that is endemic to Madagascar. It was first described by the German botanist Rudolf Schlechter under the illegitimate name Eulophia gracillima in 1913. Schlecter later validly republished the species under the name Eulophidium gracillimum in 1925. It was then moved to the genus Oeceoclades by Leslie Andrew Garay and Peter Taylor in 1976.

Oeceoclades calcarata is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus Oeceoclades that is endemic to Madagascar. It was first described by the British botanist Robert Allen Rolfe in 1905 as Eulophia paniculata. The German botanist Rudolf Schlechter later described this species as Cymbidium calcaratum in 1915 and then transferred his own taxon to the genus Eulophia in 1925. When Leslie Andrew Garay and Peter Taylor revised the genus Oeceoclades in 1976, they transferred this species to the expanded Oeceoclades as O. calcarata because even though Eulophia paniculata was the older name and thus had priority, there had already been an earlier species named Oeceoclades paniculata that prevented using that specific epithet.

Oeceoclades alismatophylla is a species of orchid in the genus Oeceoclades that is native to Comoros and northeastern Madagascar. It was first described by the German botanist Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach in 1885 as Eulophia alismatophylla and later transferred to the genus Eulophidium in 1957 by V.S. Summerhayes. When Leslie Andrew Garay and Peter Taylor revised the genus Oeceoclades in 1976, they transferred this species to the expanded Oeceoclades as O. alismatophylla. Garay and Taylor noted that this species is broadly similar in vegetative morphology to O. analamerensis, O. lonchophylla, and O. petiolata but could be distinguished from them in floral morphology, with O. alismatophylla having lateral labellum lobes that are larger than the middle one.

Oeceoclades cordylinophylla is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus Oeceoclades that is native to Comoros and northern Madagascar. It was first described by the German botanist Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach in 1885 as Eulophia cordylinophylla. It was first transferred to the genus Lissochilus by Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie in 1941, then to the genus Eulophidium by V.S. Summerhayes in 1957, and later to the genus Oeceoclades in 1976 by Leslie Andrew Garay and Peter Taylor. The type specimen was collected from the Comoro Islands by Léon Humblot, but the actual specimen is missing. Garay and Taylor indicated that an herbarium sheet of Humblot's with an unpublished name by Reichenbach appears to align well with the original description. The margins of the column wings of O. cordylinophylla are ciliolate-hirsute, fringed with stiff, minute hairs.

Oeceoclades lanceata is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus Oeceoclades that is endemic to central Madagascar. The flowers are rose-colored. It was first described by the French botanist Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie in 1935 as Eulophia lanceata. Perrier then later reduced the species to a synonym of Eulophia pandurata. The species was resurrected and transferred to the genus Oeceoclades in 1976 by Leslie Andrew Garay and Peter Taylor, who argued that O. lanceata and O. pandurata are distinct with regard to their floral structure and shape of the labellum. Garay and Taylor noted that O. lanceata is similar in vegetative morphology to O. seychellarum.

Oeceoclades lubbersiana is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus Oeceoclades that is native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. It was first described by the Belgian botanists Émile Auguste Joseph De Wildeman and Émile Laurent in 1899 as Eulophia lubbersiana, then moved to the genus Eulophidium by V.S. Summerhayes in 1957 and again transferred to the genus Oeceoclades in 1976 by Leslie Andrew Garay and Peter Taylor. Garay and Taylor noted that this species is similar to O. atrovirens in vegetative morphology, but is better allied to O. latifolia and O. pandurata because all three possess a labellum that is wider than it is long. Oeceoclades lubbersiana was named in honor of Louis Lubbers, who was a botanist working at the Botanical Garden of Brussels.

Oeceoclades seychellarum is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus Oeceoclades that was endemic to the island of Mahé in the Seychelles but is now considered to be extinct. Its sepals and petals are yellowish-white, while the labellum is white with some streaks. This species is only represented by the type specimen, collected in May 1902 from the Cascade Estate on the island of Mahé at an elevation of 900 feet (270 m) in what was then a mountain forest. The location from which the type specimen was collected is now degraded by human activity and invasive plants. Oeceoclades seychellarum was listed as being cultivated at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 1905, but not after that date.

Oeceoclades pandurata is a terrestrial and epiphytic orchid species in the genus Oeceoclades that is native to eastern Zimbabwe and Madagascar. It was first described by the British botanist Robert Allen Rolfe in 1891 as Eulophia pandurata, then moved to the genus Lissochilus by Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie in 1941, and again moved to the genus Eulophidium by V.S. Summerhayes in 1957. It was finally transferred to the genus Oeceoclades in 1976 by Leslie Andrew Garay and Peter Taylor. Garay and Taylor noted that this species possesses lateral veins on the labellum that fringed with small hairs. Oeceoclades pandurata is distinguishable from other species in the genus by the lateral lobes of the labellum, which are free and truncate. The type specimen was collected on trees near Fort Dauphin on Madagascar, now known as the city of Tôlanaro. The specific epithet pandurata refers to the fiddle-shaped labellum.

Oeceoclades perrieri is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus Oeceoclades that is native to Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar. It was first described by the German botanist Rudolf Schlechter in 1913 as Eulophia ambongensis. Schlechter had also described a separate species, Eulophidium ambongense in the same 1913 work. When Leslie Andrew Garay and Peter Taylor resurrected and revised the genus Oeceoclades in 1976, these two taxa caused a naming conflict, so they chose to use Eulophidium ambongense as the basionym for O. ambongensis and reduced Eulophia ambongensis to a synonym of O. perrieri, which was based on the basionym Eulophidium perrieri that Schlechter had also described later in 1925. Both Eulophidium perrieri and Eulophia ambongensis were conspecific, belonging to the same species, so Garay and Taylor were free to use the later name as the base for their new combination when transferring taxa to Oeceoclades. Garay and Taylor noted that this species is related to O. quadriloba, O. sclerophylla, and O. analavelensis but can be distinguished from them by its characteristic long strap-like leaves that taper to a point.

Oeceoclades petiolata is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus Oeceoclades that is endemic to northern and western Madagascar. It was first described by the German botanist Rudolf Schlechter in 1913 as Eulophia petiolata. Schlechter later moved this species to the genus Eulophidium in 1925. It was again moved to the genus Lissochilus by the French botanist Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie in 1941 and last transferred the genus Oeceoclades in 1976 by Leslie Andrew Garay and Peter Taylor. Garay and Taylor noted that this species is almost identical to O. alismatophylla in vegetative morphology, but the two differ in the shape of the labellum on the flower. The labellum is fiddle-shaped and has three thickened veins in front of the calli.

Oeceoclades quadriloba is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus Oeceoclades that is native to Swaziland, southern Zimbabwe, and western Madagascar. It was first described by the German botanist Rudolf Schlechter in 1913 as Eulophia quadriloba. Schlechter later moved this species to the genus Eulophidium in 1925. It was again moved to the genus Lissochilus by the French botanist Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie in 1941 and last transferred the genus Oeceoclades in 1976 by Leslie Andrew Garay and Peter Taylor. Garay and Taylor noted that structure of the labellum is unique in the genus and resembles that of an Asian genus of orchids, Grosourdya. The spur is longer than the midlobe of the labellum.

Oeceoclades sclerophylla is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus Oeceoclades that is native to Comoros and southeastern Madagascar. It was first described by the German botanist Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach in 1885 as Eulophia sclerophylla. It was later transferred to the genus Oeceoclades in 1976 by Leslie Andrew Garay and Peter Taylor. Oeceoclades sclerophylla has long, linear leaves, a feature that is shared with O. analavelensis and O. quadriloba, but it differs from these species in the proportions of the size of labellum lobes.

Oeceoclades spathulifera is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus Oeceoclades that is endemic to northern and western Madagascar. It was first described by the French botanist Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie in 1935 as Eulophia spathulifera. Perrier later transferred the species to the genus Lissochilus in 1941 and it was again moved to the genus Eulophidium by V.S. Summerhayes in 1957. It was last transferred to the genus Oeceoclades in 1976 by Leslie Andrew Garay and Peter Taylor when they resurrected and revised that genus. Oeceoclades spathulifera is related to O. calcarata and O. hebdingiana but it can be distinguished from those species by its long, spathulate (spoon-shaped) sepals and petals and the globose spur.

Oeceoclades ambrensis is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus Oeceoclades that is endemic to northern Madagascar, where it grows in humid forests at altitudes of 1,000–1,100 metres (3,300–3,600 ft). It was first described by the French botanist Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie in 1951 as Lissochilus ambrensis and moved to the genus Eulophia in 1975 by Friedhelm Reinhold Butzin. It was last transferred to the genus Oeceoclades in 2001 by Jean Marie Bosser and Philippe Morat. The type specimen was collected in 1924 from montagne d'Ambre, now a part of Amber Mountain National Park. The pseudobulbs are fusiform (spindle-shaped) and homoblastic. Oeceoclades ambrensis is most similar to O. pulchra but it differs in the structure of the labellum, having rounded lobes.

Oeceoclades humbertii is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus Oeceoclades that is endemic to southeastern Madagascar, where it grows in xerophilous bush at altitudes from 500 to 600 m. It was first described by the French botanist Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie in 1939 as Lissochilus humbertii and moved to the genus Eulophia in 1975 by Friedhelm Reinhold Butzin. It was last transferred to the genus Oeceoclades in 2001 by Jean Marie Bosser and Philippe Morat. The type specimen was collected from the left bank of the Manambolo valley in the Mandrare River basin in either December 1933 or January 1934 when it was recorded as flowering by its collector Jean-Henri Humbert for whom the specific epithet humbertii honors. The small pseudobulbs are conical and heteroblastic. Oeceoclades humbertii is distinguished from all other Oeceoclades by its completely green flowers. It has only been collected twice including the type specimen; the other specimen was collected by Philippe Morat in 1973 from the Onilahy valley in the Ankazoabo gorges north of Betioky.

Oeceoclades longebracteata is a species of terrestrial orchid in the genus Oeceoclades that is endemic to southwestern and south-central Madagascar. It was first described by the French botanists Jean Marie Bosser and Philippe Morat in 2001. The type specimen was collected in 1970 by Jean Marie Bosser from dry forest undergrowth near Tsaramasao, 20 km (12 mi) south of Sakaraha. The specific epithet longebracteata refers to the long bracts found along the inflorescence.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bone, R. E., E. Sanz, and S. Buerki. 2014. The transfer of Eulophia beravensis Rchb.f. to Oeceoclades Lindl., a genus with its centre of diversity in Madagascar (Eulophiinae, Orchidaceae). Candollea 69(2): 201-205.