Thursday, July 5, 2018

4 New Orchid Species Discovered in June

June has been a great month for new orchid species discoveries.  Check out these cool new flowers!


Odontochilus putaoensis

This terrestrial orchid was discovered in northern Myanmar by a group of botanists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The orchid has greenish-brown flowers that are about 1cm across.
Odontochilus putaoensis
Image credit: Aung et al, Phytokeys 2018
Odontochilus putaoensis closeup
Image credit: Aung et al, Phytokeys 2018


Pleurothallis hawkingii 

This is a epiphytic orchid from Costa Rica blooms with pale yellow to white flowers, which sometimes have a distinctive purplish hue. It was described by a pair of botanists from the Universidad de Costa Rica.
Pleurothallis hawkingii
Image credit: Adam Karremans and Jose Esteban Jimenez Phytotaxa 2018
Pleurothallis hawkingii
Image credit: Adam Karremans and Jose Esteban Jimenez, Phytotaxa 2018
Pleurothallis hawkingii purple variant
Image credit: Adam Karremans and Jose Esteban Jimenez, Phytotaxa 2018


Pleurothallis vide-vallis

Another Costa Rican Pleurothallis species described in the same paper as P. hawkingii, Pleurothallis vide-vallis is a small epiphytic species that blooms with yellow flowers that have ranging degrees of pink hues.
Pleurothallis vide-vallis
Image credit: Adam Karremans and Jose Esteban Jimenez, Phytotaxa 2018
Pleurothallis vide-vallis closeups of yellow and purple variants
Image credit: Adam Karremans and Jose Esteban Jimenez, Phytotaxa 2018


Gastrodia kachinensis

Gastrodia are a genus of parasitic orchids, which grow primarily underground.  They have no leaves, do not photosynthesize, and instead feed on the fungi that grow around their roots. Gastrodia kachinensis is a new species discovered in Myanmar by a pair of botanists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Left: A Gastrodia kachinensis inflorescencees, barely visible against the forest floor.  Right: closeup of G. kachinensis
Image credit: Ye Lwin Aung and Xiao-hua Jin, Phytokeys 2018

No comments:

Post a Comment