Habenaria qinghaiensis X. H. Jin & C. B. Ma 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ma, Chong-Bo
name: Wang, Han-Chen
name: Deng, Tan
name: Lin, Peng-Chen
name: Jin, Xiao-Hua
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Liliopsida
Asparagales
Orchidaceae
Habenaria
Habenaria qinghaiensis

description: Habenaria qinghaiensis X.H. Jin & C.B. Ma, sp. nov. (AÎỊḬƖ) (Figure 2–5)
Type: — CHINA. Qinghai Province, Xining City, Huangyuan County, elev. 2760 m, 17 July 2022, Xiaohua Jin, Chongbo Ma & Hanchen Wang 38683 (holotype PE!).
Terrestrial herb, 8–15 cm tall. Tubers subglobose or ellipsoid. Stem erect, papillate-hairy. Leaves 2, nearly opposite, basal, appressed to the ground, white veins and markings on adaxial surface, base abruptly narrowed and amplexicaul; leaf blade wide ovate, 2.8–3.2 cm long, 2–2.3 cm wide, apex acute. Inflorescence 8–12 cm long, laxly 2–4-flowered; rachis with papillate-hairy; floral bracts linear-lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, margins with ciliate hairs, apex acuminate, shorter than ovary; ovary twisted, slightly arching, cylindric, including pedicel 1.3–1.5 cm long, almost glabrous. Flowers yellowish-green. Dorsal sepal forming hood with petals, ovate, concave, 0.8–0.9 cm long, 0.4–0.5 cm wide, apex sub-obtuse or subacute; lateral sepals reflexed, obliquely oblong-ovate, 0.9–1 cm long, 0.4–0.5 cm wide, apex obtuse. Petals shallowly 2-lobed at base; upper lobe ovate-lanceolate, 0.8–1 cm long, 0.4–0.5 cm wide, glabrous, apex subacute; lower lobe triangular, ca. 0.2 cm long. Lip deeply 3-lobed at base, spurred at base; lateral lobes linear-filiform, 1.8–2.2 cm long, apex often curled; mid-lobe linear, 1.4–1.5 cm long; spur cylindrical-clavate, 2.2–2.5 cm long, with glandular-hair inside, much longer than ovary, often horizontal and curved upwards, entrance of spur raised, adaxially with a cushion-like callus. Column short and stout, erect, both sides with auricles (staminodes), fleshy, verrucose, erect, translucent. Connective ca. 2–3 mm wide. Anther bilocular, parallel, translucent; pollinaria 2, separate, caudicles filiform, pale yellow; pollinia sectile; viscidia ellipsoidal, whitish. Rostellum triangular, erect, fleshy. Stigma lobes 3, light green, two clavate-shaped, parallel and extending, one thickened on the column above the entrance of spur.
Diagnosis: — Habenaria qinghaiensis differs from the H. josephi Rchb.f. (1888: 114) in having bilobed petals, long lateral lobes of lip, from H. tibetica Schltr. (1922: 338) by having cushion-like appendage at the base of the lip and glabrous bracts, petals and ovary, and three stigmas (Table 1).
Etymology: —The name “ qinghaiensis ” refers to the type locality of the new species, Qinghai Province, China.
Distribution and habitat:— The new species is only distributed in Huangyuan County and Huzhu County, Qinghai Province, China. Found in grasslands and alpine gullies, 2700 to 3000 m.
Phenology:— Flowering in July.
Conservation status:— Habenaria qinghaiensis grows on grasslands and alpine gullies in Huangyuan County, Qinghai Province. Three subpopulations are known, of which two fall in the same grid, these two grids lie almost 100 km apart, hence there is a chance of occurrence of the species in adjacent areas. With the current state of knowledge, the Area of Occurrence (AOO) is estimated as 8 km 2. The total number of mature individuals is less than 1000. All sites are threatened due to overgrazing by the cattle of the local people and hence there is an inferred decline in quality of habitat and number of mature individuals. Accordingly, the two grids are taken as two distinct locations, as in a threatening event both sites will not be affected simultaneously. Based on the available information, the new species can be assessed as Endangered [B2ab(iii,v)] following the latest IUCN criteria version 15.1 (IUCN. 2022).
Note: —Morphologically, this new species is similar to H. josephi and H. tibetica but differs from them by its bifid petals, column structure, callus at entrance of spur, length of lateral lobe and three stigmas (Table 1).
description: Published as part of Ma, Chong-Bo, Wang, Han-Chen, Deng, Tan, Lin, Peng-Chen & Jin, Xiao-Hua, 2023, A new species of Habenaria (Orchidaceae, Orchideae) from Qinghai Province, China, pp. 260-268 in Phytotaxa 583 (3) on pages 262-265, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.583.3.4, http://zenodo.org/record/7621464