Polystachya danielana G. W. Hu, W. C. Huang & Q. F. Wang 2019, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Tian, Jing
name: Huang, Wei-Chang
name: Mbuni, Yuvenalis Morara
name: Kamau, Peris
name: Mwachala, Geoffrey
name: Malombe, Itambo
name: Hu, Guang-Wan
name: Wang, Qing-Feng
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Liliopsida
Asparagales
Orchidaceae
Polystachya
Polystachya danielana

description: Polystachya danielana G.W.Hu, W.C.Huang & Q.F.Wang, sp. nov. (Figs. 2, 3)   
 Type:— KENYA. Elgeyo-Marakwet County: Kipkunur, Kapsowar town, Cherangani Hill, 00° 58 ′ 49.48 ″ N, 35° 30 ′ 31.25 ″ E, 2670 m, 2 May 2018, Sino-Africa Joint Investigation Team (SAJIT)-007105 (holotype HIB!; isotype EA!, HIB!).   
Epiphytic herbs, ca. 13 cm tall. Roots numerous, up to 13 cm long, ca. 3 mm thick. Pseudobulbs (stems) narrowly cylindrical or rarely swollen in the lower middle part, 2.0–3.0 × 0.6 cm, mostly arising from the nodes near the base of the previous growth, few from the middle or upper nodes, with 3–5 sheaths. Leaves 2, narrowly oblong or narrowly ovate-lanceolate, 2–8 × 1–2 cm, base gradually tapered into a petiole, apex obtuse or unequally shallowly bilobed. Inflorescences terminal, 2–5 cm long, with 4–7 flowers, peduncle tomentose, unbranched. Flowers purple to yellowgreen; bracts oblong, 4 × 3 mm, apex emarginate with a caudate tip; pedicel and ovary 1.0– 1.5 cm long, purple, tomentose. Dorsal sepals subovate, 5.0–7.0 × 3.0– 4.5 mm, apex acuminate; lateral sepals obliquely ovate-orbicular, apex recurved, 7–9 × 4–6 mm, abaxially tomentose, borne on a ca. 6 mm long column foot and forming a sac; petals oblong, 5.0–6.0 × 1.5–2.0 mm, apex blunt; lip 8 × 5 mm, recurved, hypochile hairy, mesochile hairy, epichile trilobed, lateral lobes incurved, oval, midlobe orbicular, 3.5 × 3.5 mm, margin undulate and irregularly erose, apex blunt; column 2.5 mm long. Capsule trigonal-ellipsoid, 2.7 cm long.  
 Distribution and ecology:— Currently known only from the type locality, as an epiphytic herb growing in moss on lower parts of trunks of Podocarpus milanjianus Rendle (1894: 61).   
 Phenology:— Flowering in May.   
 Etymology:— Named in memory of Daniel Odhiambo Miyawa, a botanist from the National Museums of Kenya, who spent his brief life studying Kenyan orchids.   
 Additional s  pecimens examined:— Polystachya spatella : KENYA. Nandi County: North Nandi Forest, Tabolwa, 24 April 2018, SAJIT-007027 (EA, HIB). Elgeyo-Marakwet County: Kapsowar, Kipkunur, 2 May 2018, SAJIT-007103 (EA, HIB); Kararia, 4 May 2018, SAJIT-007128 (EA, HIB). DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. 12 April 1934, Witte 1501 (BR); May 1894, Scott Elliot 7796 (K). RWANDA. 1 March 1992, Delepierre 135 (BR). Polystachya kermesina: RWANDA. 27 December 1971, Bouxin 1273 (BR). DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. 1 November 1937, Lebrun 8719 (BR); 1 July 1959, Léonard. 4774 (YBI); 2 June 1959, Léonard 4475 (YBI); 6 February 1958, Léonard 436 (BR); 5 February 1958, Léonard 404 (YBI); 26 January 1945, Germain 3477 (YBI); 28 December 1930, Burtt 3084 (BR); 1 November 1937, Lebrun 8719 (BR); 7 August 1937, Louis 5271 (YBI).   
 Phylogenetic analysis:— Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of the combined ITS and psbD-trnT dataset shows that Polystachya danielana is a member of the clade of P. sect. Superpositae Kraenzlin (1926: 100) and is closely related to P. spatella and P. kermesina (Fig. 1). This confirms its position in P. sect. Superpositae. The separate analyses did not exhibit any strong incongruence.
description: Published as part of Tian, Jing, Huang, Wei-Chang, Mbuni, Yuvenalis Morara, Kamau, Peris, Mwachala, Geoffrey, Malombe, Itambo, Hu, Guang-Wan & Wang, Qing-Feng, 2019, Polystachya danielana (Orchidaceae: Polystachyinae), a new species from Kenya, pp. 195-202 in Phytotaxa 405 (4) on page 197, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.405.4.3, http://zenodo.org/record/13714704