Phalaenopsis putaoensis X. H. Jin & H. A. Mung. A. Habit. B. Lateral 2021, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Aung, Mung Htoi
name: Jin, Xiaohua
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Liliopsida
Asparagales
Orchidaceae
Phalaenopsis
Phalaenopsis putaoensis

description: Phalaenopsis putaoensis X.H.Jin & H.A.Mung, sp. nov., Figure 1.
Phalaenopsis putaoensis is similar to Phalaenopsis honghenensis F.Y. Liu and P. wilsonii Rolfe, but differs from them by having parallel lateral lobes adorned with antennae–like appendages and rhombic middle lobe adorned with two wartlike calli on disk.
Type:— MYANMAR. Kachin State: Putao Township, lowland tropical evergreen broad–leaved, 500 m, epiphytic on tree trunks, 7 June 2016, Xiaohua Jin et al., PT–2020 (Holotype, PE!)
Plants epiphytic on trunks, 15–25 cm tall. Roots elongate, depressed. Stem very short, purple, straight, ridged, usually enclosed in persistent 2 sheaths at base. Leaf not seen. Inflorescence 6–13 cm long, sparsely 7–14-flowered. Rachis 8–12 cm long; floral bracts purple, attached to pedicel, persistent, 2–3 mm long, ovate–attenuate, concave, 3–4 mm long, short, concave, ovate–attenuate, apex acute. Flowers fully opening; sepals and petals primrose (strong pale yellow), pedicel and ovary ca. 1.8–2 cm long, almost glabrous. Dorsal sepal oblanceolate, obtuse, concave, ca. 6.5 × 7.0 mm, 4–5 longitudinal veined, purple blotch near the base, margins entire, surface glabrous; lateral sepals slightly concave, ovate, ca. 5.0 × 2.5–6.0 mm, 5–6 longitudinal veined, purple blotch or stripe at base, margins entire, acute. Petals oblong, acute, ca. 6.5–7.0 × 4.5–5.0 mm, 4–5 longitudinal veined; lip three lobed; lateral lobes erect, subparallel, falcate, apex attenuate with purple blot in middle, 4 × 2 mm, adorned with antennae–like appendages and purple blotches at base; middle lobe rhombic, 5 × 8 mm, margin entire, disk with two wartlike white ridges ranging from base to apex, apex obtuse and somewhat recurved. Column ca. 4 mm long, foot ca. 2 mm long, pillose along the margin of the base; rostellum ovate–triagular, large, unlobed, extending outward; anther cap subglobose, apex slightly mucronulate. Pollinia 2, stipe spatulate and attached to the viscidium.
Distribution and habitat:— Phalaenopsis putaoensis is epiphytic on trunks under the tropical forest up to 500 m in elevation. Phalaenopsis putaoensis is only known from the type locality.
Relationships:— Phalaenopsis putaoensis is a distinct species and rather isolated in Phalaenopsis. During our fieldwork, we had not found the leaf. Therefore, it was tentatively placed in sect. Aphyllae. Morphologically, it is close to sect. Parishianae.
Phenology:— Flowering from June to July.
Etymology:— The new species is named after Putao, the northernmost town of Myanmar, where P. putaotensis was discovered in a strongly disturbed forest.
Conservation Status:—Critically Endangered (CR). Phalaenopsis putaoensis was discovered in Putao Township, Kachin State, Northern Myanmar. Until now, only one population, consisting of approximately five plants, has been discovered in a small area of strongly disturbed forest. On the basis of the extent of occurrence to be less than 200 km 2 and the area of occupancy less than 10 km 2, this new species is here preliminarily considered as a status of Critically Endangered (CR) according to IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria (IUCN 2012, IUCN Standards and Petitions Subcommittee 2019).
description: Published as part of Aung, Mung Htoi & Jin, Xiaohua, 2021, Phalaenopsis putaoensis (Orchidaceae: Epidendroideae, Vandeae), a new species from Kachin State, Myanmar, pp. 244-246 in Phytotaxa 484 (2) on pages 244-245, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.484.2.9, http://zenodo.org/record/5421651