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Taiwania, 59(3): 206‒209, 2014
DOI: 10.6165/tai.2014.59.206
206
RESEARCH ARTICLE
A New Species of Eria (Orchidaceae) from India under the Section
Cylindrolobus
D. K. Agrawala(1*) and Paul Ormerod(2)
1. Botanical Survey of India, Sikkim Himalayan Regional Centre, Gangtok – 737103, Sikkim, India. Email:
dk_bsi@rediffmail.com, drdkbsi@gmail.com
2. P.O. Box 8210, Cairns, Qld. 4870, Australia. Email: wsandave1@bigpond.com
* Corresponding author.
(Manuscript received 24 December 2013; accepted 28 April 2014)
ABSTRACT: Eria gloensis (section Cylindrolobus) from Arunachal Pradesh, India, is described and illustrated. Discussion is
provided on its distinguishing characters and the taxa it is allied to.
KEY WORDS: Arunachal Pradesh, Eria, Eria gloensis sp. nov, Orchidaceae.
INTRODUCTION
Eria Lindl. (s.l.) is a genus generally considered to
have about 500 species [Pridgeon (1992), or c. 420
species if one removes the 80 taxa now referred to
Trichotosia Blume] distributed from Sri Lanka to
Tahiti. The plants are usually epiphytic, rarely
terrestrial, and occasionally lithophytic. The leaf
bearing axes vary from tiny discoid pseudobulbs to
pendulous stems more than two metres long.
Inflorescences are usually axillary, or less often
pseudoterminal, bearing one to many flowers. The
flowers are often pubescent, occasionally glabrous. The
column always has a foot (or basal extension) to which
the labellum is either movably attached, or less
commonly forms an almost seamless continuation of the
foot. The pollinia are usually eight, clavate to globular,
and sometimes unequal in size.
Section Cylindrolobus (Blume) Lindl. is a diverse
group of about 70 species (Ormerod, ined.) distributed
from Sri Lanka to New Guinea. Malesia (Peninsular
Malaysia to New Guinea) has about 50 species and is
the centre of diversity for the section, whilst the area
including Sri Lanka, India and south-east Asia has
about 20 taxa. Section Cylindrolobus is loosely defined
within Eria by its caulescent habit, glabrous leaves
either spread along the stem or gathered near its apex,
axillary (rarely pseudoterminal), short inflorescences of
one to few flowers (never in elongate racemes), and
often spreading, coloured, relatively large floral bracts.
While preparing a synopsis of the Malesian taxa of
section Cylindrolobus, the second author found an
intriguing unidentified Eria among material kept at
AMES. The specimen was collected from the Mishmi
Hills of Arunachal Pradesh, India by Frank Kingdon
Ward in 1949. Upon critical observation and perusal
of the relevant literature (Seidenfaden, 1982, 1992;
Seidenfaden and Wood, 1992; Chowdhery, 1998;
Agrawala, 2009), the specimen was recognised to be an
undescribed species of Eria section Cylindrolobus. The
new species is described here and supplemented with
an illustration and comparative discussion with allied
taxa.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Eria gloensis Ormerod & Agrawala, sp. nov.
Fig. 1 & 3
Type: India, Arunachal Pradesh, Mishmi Hills,
Kamlang Valley, Glo, 1220 m, 25 March 1949, F.
Kingdon Ward 18451 (Holotype: AMES!; Isotype: NY
[image !]).
Affinis E. arunachalensis A.N. Rao sed labello
bicarinatis (vs. tricarinatis), villi epichilo elongatis et
capitatis (vs. brevioribus et ecapitatis) differt.
Epiphytic herb. Rhizome not seen. Roots terete,
pubescent, to 0.5 mm thick. Stem terete, slightly
clavately thickened apically, slender, 4 leaved apically,
with up to 7 internodes, covered by close-fitting
sheaths, 24 cm long, 0.25 cm thick near base, 0.30‒0.35
cm thick near apex. Leaves ligulate-lanceolate, acute,
thin, slightly stiff, 10‒12 cm long, 1.25‒1.40 cm wide.
Inflorescences axillary, pubescent, borne on the apical
3 cm of the stem, 2 flowered, 1.4‒1.6 cm long;
peduncle 1.2‒1.3 cm long; rachis 0.2‒0.3 cm long;
floral bracts oblong-lanceolate, acute, patent to
deflexed, to 12 mm long, 5 mm wide. Flowers cream
September, 2014 Agrawala & Ormerod: A new species of Eria (Orchidaceae) from India
207
Fig. 1. Eria gloensis Ormerod & Agrawala sp.nov. A: Plant. B: Flower. C: Dorsal sepal. D: Petal. E: Lateral sepal. F: Flower
minus tepals. G: Column. H: Labellum. I: Epichile. Drawn from the holotype.
Taiwania Vol. 59, No. 3
208
coloured, externally pubescent. Dorsal sepal lanceolate,
acute, 7 veined, 15.9 mm long, 4 mm wide. Lateral
sepals obliquely lanceolate from a widely ovate and
dilated base, acute, 7 veined, 15.5 mm long, 9 mm wide,
joined to the column foot for 6.0‒6.5 mm to form a
subglobose, obtuse, 7 mm long, 6 mm wide (laterally)
mentum. Petals ligulate, acute, 3‒4 veined with branched
lateral veins, 15.2 mm long, 3 mm wide. Labellum
trilobed, probably elastically hinged to the apex of the
column foot, c. 7 mm long, 6.5 mm wide; hypochile
subquadrate, sidelobes obliquely truncate, base with a
short cuneate claw that is laxly pubescent at the margins,
the hairs continuing along the sides of the midline to
near the callus, upper lateral inside margins of sidelobes
shortly and finely pubescent in a broad band, inner
subapical margins of sidelobes long pubescent in a broad
band down onto basal half of epichile, 5 mm long, 6.5
mm wide; epichile transversely elliptic, medially with a
triangular apiculus, inside lateral margins with a patch of
long, capitate hairs each side, 2 mm long, 3 mm wide;
callus beginning on middle of hypochile, bicarinate
throughout, lanceolate, apex shortly raised, semidiscoid,
and pubescent on epichile. Column semiterete, 4.8 mm
long (minus anther cap); column foot incurved, joined to
the lateral sepals for 6.0‒6.5 mm, the apex free or naked
for 3.0‒3.5 mm, in total 9‒10 mm long.
Distribution: India (Arunachal Pradesh).
Habitat: “Jungle”, 1220 m.
Etymology: Named after the type locality, the
location Glo in the Kamlang Valley.
DISCUSSION
Eria gloensis is most closely related to E.
arunachalensis A.N. Rao (Fig. 2) and appears
indistinguishable from it externally. Both taxa share
similar features such as slenderly clavate stems topped
by a few leaves, biflorous inflorescences with relatively
large floral bracts, pubescent flowers with a prominent
subglobose mentum, and a more or less subquadrate lip.
However E. gloensis differs in the flowers having a
single bicarinate callus on the labellum (vs. two lateral
calli, and a median pubescent ridge), and two groups of
long, capitate hairs on the midlobe (epichile).
Another species similar to E. gloensis is E. foetida
Aver. from Vietnam. The latter differs in having two
separate keels on the lower half of the lip.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We wish to thank Julie Shapiro (Global Plants Initiative,
HUH) for images of the holotype, and Tom Zanoni (NY) for
images of the NY isotype. The first author wishes to thank
Director of the Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata for facilities
and encouragement. The second author also wishes to thank
Fig. 2. Eria arunachalensis A. N. Rao. A: Habit. B:
Inflorescence. C: Floral bract, pedicel, ovary, column, foot
and tepals. D: Lip (flattened). [D.K. Agrawala 32518 (CAL)].
Fig. A is not to scale.
herbarium and library staff at the Harvard University Herbaria
(HUH) for their help and hospitality during his visits.
LITERATURE CITED
Agrawala, D. K. 2009. Taxonomic studies on the genus Eria
Lindl. (Orchidaceae) in India. Ph.D. Thesis submitted to
Kalyani University, West Bengal.
Chowdhery, H. J. 1998. Orchid Flora of Arunachal Pradesh.
Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehradun, India. 824
pp.
Pridgeon, A. 1992. What Orchid is That? Lansdowne
Publishing Co., Sydney, Australia. 304 pp.
Seidenfaden, G. 1982. Orchid genera in Thailand X.
Trichotosia Bl. and Eria Lindl. Opera Bot. 62: 1–128.
Seidenfaden, G. 1992. The Orchids of Indo-China. Opera Bot.
114: 1–501.
Seidenfaden, G. and J. J. Wood. 1992. The Orchids of
Penninsular Malayasia and Singapore. Olsen and Olsen,
Fredensborg, Denmark. 779 pp.
September, 2014 Agrawala & Ormerod: A new species of Eria (Orchidaceae) from India
209
Fig. 3. Eria gloensis Ormerod & Agrawala sp.nov.: Image of Isotype at NY.
