Stephan W. Gale's research while affiliated with Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden and other places

Publications (76)

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Anthropogenic disturbance has led to widespread clearance and degradation of tropical forests, and tree planting has been promoted as an effective solution for recovery. However, trees have been overwhelmingly planted in monocultures or low-diversity mixes and this is expected to have profound, lasting impacts on forest structure, diversity, and fu...
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Introduction Plants confined to island-like habitats are hypothesised to possess a suite of functional traits that promote on-spot persistence and recruitment, but this may come at the cost of broad-based colonising potential. Ecological functions that define this island syndrome are expected to generate a characteristic genetic signature. Here we...
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Apostasia nipponica and Crepidium cordilabium are newly added to the orchid flora of Hong Kong and their taxonomy is reviewed. A detailed description and line drawing are provided for both species, as are notes on flowering phenology and conservation status. Following careful examination of type material and other authentic specimens from throughou...
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A new one-flowered species of Nervilia section Linervia is described and illustrated based on material collected in Kanchanaburi Province, southwest Thailand. The white and magenta-spotted labellum and glabrous, angular leaf immediately identify N. hemratii S.W.Gale, Tetsana & Suddee as yet another member of the taxonomically challenging Nervilia a...
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The rare achlorophyllous orchid Cyrtosia septentrionalis is thought to switch mycobiont from a Physisporinus species (‘TK-10’) to an Armillaria species as it develops. We conducted morphological, chemical and molecular analyses of the root system of three adult plants growing sympatrically in Japan to assess reliance on different mycorrhizae. The r...
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Malaxidinae are a cosmopolitan higher Epidendroid subtribe of > 1250 species that exhibit wide morphological and ecological diversity. Despite almost two centuries of taxonomic deliberation, controversy persists regarding the delimitation of practically all Malaxidinae genera, the most important of which are Crepidium, Dienia, Liparis and Malaxis....
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Evolutionary slowdowns in diversification have been inferred in various plant and animal lineages. Investigation based on diversification models integrated with environmental factors and key characters could provide critical insights into this diversification trend. We evaluate diversification rates in the Cirrhopetalum alliance (Bulbophyllum, Orch...
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Cymbilabia sourioudongii, a new species of epiphytic orchid is described and illustrated from Phou Khao Khouay National Protected Area of Laos PDR.
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The recent discovery in Hong Kong of plants matching the description of Tropidia nip-ponica, a rhizomatous, leafy geophyte native to southwest Japan, Taiwan and parts of southern China, fomented a taxonomic investigation of this and morphologically similar members of Trop-idia in subtropical East Asia. Following critical analysis of type specimens...
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Plants produce compounds to resist fungal attack. However, most orchids require fungal colonisation for germination, and fully mycoheterotrophic (MH) orchids are dependent upon fungi for their entire nutritional needs. To elucidate the manner in which MH orchids interact with and accommodate a mycorrhizal partner, we examined the effect of compound...
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This account presents information on all aspects of the biology of Nervilia nipponica Makino (mukago‐saishin) that are relevant to understanding its ecological characteristics and behaviour. The main topics are presented within the standard framework of the International Biological Flora: distribution, habitat, communities, responses to biotic fact...
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Viable populations of threatened orchids can be re‐established in the wild through integrated conservation that combines a scientific understanding of species ecology with applied knowledge of horticultural requirements. Previously abundant in South China, Pecteilis susannae has declined due to habitat loss and collection, both for its magnificent...
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Four new additions to the orchid flora of Hong Kong are reported: Calanthe × dominyi, Chrysoglossum assamicum, Gastrodia clausa and Liparis sootenzanensis. Full descriptions, analytical plates and notes on nomenclatural history, affiliations, occurrence, ecology and global conservation status are provided. Type status for Calanthe × dominyi is vali...
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Mucuna (Fabaceae) species possess gullet‐type flowers that open explosively and which are thought to be specifically adapted for bat‐ or bird‐pollination. However, recent studies have shown that non‐flying mammals are also important pollinators of this genus in Asia. Here we report on the pollination system of Mucuna championii (endemic in southeas...
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The jewel orchid Anoectochilus formosanus Hayata, until now known only from Japan and Taiwan, is reported from Hong Kong for the first time. A detailed description, colour plate, line drawings and notes on ecology, distribution and conservation status are provided.
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Didymoplexiella laosensis is described as a new species from the limestone mountains of Vang Vieng District in central Laos. A detailed description, colour plate, line drawings and conservation assessment are provided, together with morphological comparisons with three allied species in tropical Asia, namely, D. ornata, D. siamensis and D. trichech...
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Descriptions, updated distribution data, conservation status and illustrations of two newly recorded orchids, Odontochilus elwesii and O. putaoensis are provided. An identifi cation key to all four species of Odontochilus now known to occur in Laos is also provided.
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Based on field surveys in Lao PDR conducted during 2012 to 2017, ten new additions to the orchid flora of the country are reported: Bulbophyllum kingii, Cleisostoma nangongense, Dendrobium formosum, Dendrobium hesperis, Dendrobium linguella, Dendrobium pachyphyllum, Didymoplexiella siamensis, Hetaeria oblongifolia, Oberonia acaulis and Vanda coerul...
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Background: Gene flow in plants via pollen and seeds is asymmetrical at different geographic scales. Orchid seeds are adapted to long-distance wind dispersal but pollinium transfer is often influenced by pollinator behavior. We combined field studies with an analysis of genetic diversity among 155 physically mapped adults and 1105 F1 seedlings to...
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Descriptions, updated distribution data, conservation status and illustrations of two newly recorded orchids, Odontochilus elwesii and O. putaoensis are provided. An identifi cation key to all four species of Odontochilus now known to occur in Laos is also provided.
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The Cirrhopetalum alliance is a loosely circumscribed species-rich group within the mega-diverse genus Bulbophyllum (Orchidaceae). The monophyletic status of the alliance has been challenged by previous studies, although established sectional classifications have yet to be tested in a phylogenetic context. We used maximum likelihood and Bayesian an...
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The breeding system and pollination biology of a rare epiphytic orchid, Bulbophyllum nipondhii Seidenf., were investigated in Northeast Thailand. We demonstrate that the species is strongly, but not completely, self-incompatible, with a fruit-set of 5.0–5.7% following manual selfing and 65.0–65.7% following manual out-crossing, and that it requires...
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Despite the grave threat illegal wildlife trade poses to species survival, few studies have attempted to link supply and demand data for the same wildlife product. All ca. 29,000 orchid species are listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and many are protected under domestic legislation...
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Eriocaulon is a genus of c. 470 aquatic and wetland species of the monocot plant family Eriocaulaceae. It is widely distributed in Africa, Asia and America, with centres of species richness in the tropics. Most species of Eriocaulon grow in wetlands although some inhabit shallow rivers and streams with an apparent adaptive morphology of elongated s...
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Inferring pollinators from floral traits is problematic because many flowers do not conform to a prescribed phenotype by which they may be assigned to any one particular pollination ‘syndrome.’ This necessitates empirical investigation to confirm pollinator relationships. Mucuna birdwoodiana is thought to be fruit bat-pollinated on account of its m...
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Ottelia, a pantropical genus of aquatic plants belonging to the family Hydrocharitaceae, includes several narrowly distributed taxa in Asia. Although the Asian species have received comparatively more research attention than congeners in other areas, various key taxonomic questions remain unaddressed, especially with regards to apparent cryptic div...
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Nervilia plicata is a morphologically variable terrestrial orchid with a wide geographic range in tropical Asia. Several forms have previously been recognised as distinct taxa due primarily to differences in the size, outline and colour of perianth parts. As a first step towards understanding the links between floral polymorphism, pollination ecolo...
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Descriptions, updated information on distribution ranges and two illustrations are provided for three orchids newly discovered in Laos, namely, Cheirostylis octodactyla Ames, Peristylus lacertiferus (Lindl.) J. J. Sm. and Vanilla somae Hayata. Cheirostylis pingbianensis K. Y. Lang is reduced to the synonymy of C. octodactyla.
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Cleisostoma schoenorchaefolium is described as a new species from limestone karst in Lao PDR. A detailed description with photographs, line drawings and a conservation assessment are presented. Due to the presence of a combination of unique characters (namely, semi-terete leaves with a subulate apex, a two-chambered spur and a complex pollinarium s...
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en Overharvesting is one of the greatest threats to species survival. Farming overharvested species is a conservation strategy that can meet growing market demand and conserve wild populations of the target species. This strategy is compatible with the international community's desire to uphold the right of local communities to use biological resou...
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Over‐exploitation of wildlife for trade threatens taxa globally. Interest in demand‐side approaches to address this problem has grown but understanding of how consumer preferences shape demand remains limited. To quantify the role of consumer preferences for wild orchids in China's horticultural market, we used conjoint analysis to determine which...
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Threats to orchid survival continue to intensify, with > 50% of the orchids that have been assessed for the IUCN Global Red List falling in to one of the categories of threat. Despite the best efforts of the orchid conservation community, the capacity to develop solutions at the species-level will be outstripped by the sheer scale and pace of chang...
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With limited resources for curtailing the escalating biodiversity crisis, a rational means of setting priorities among threatened species is of pre-eminent concern. Combining phylogenetic history and conservation status to estimate the evolutionary distinctiveness that would be lost in the event of a given species becoming extinct has gained moment...
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The following nine new additions to the orchid flora of Laos PDR are reported based on surveys in the country conducted during the period 2012–2017: Bulbophyllum alcicorne, B. meson, Coelogyne suaveolens, Cyrtosia nana, Dendrobium phuketense, Oberonia rhizoides, Phaius columnaris, Thelasis khasiana and Zeuxine longilabris. The taxonomy of a further...
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The delimitation of cryptic species is necessary to accurately classify and appropriately conserve biodiversity. Integrative analyses can be incisive in detecting and circumscribing cryptic diversity, especially in species complexes whose members are delineated by minor or overlapping morphological variation. We adopt an integrative approach to ass...
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Orchids are one of the largest plant families and are commercially traded for a variety of purposes, including as ornamental plants, medicinal products and food. These markets involve thousands of species, which may be traded legally or illegally, sustainably or unsustainably, and take place at local, national or international scales. In this revie...
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Thismia nigricoronata is described as a new species in family Burmanniaceae. Both morphological and phylogenetic analyses indicate that this new Lao endemic is allied to T. taiwanensis in section Glaziocharis, and it can be differentiated on the basis of its longer vestigial stem leaves, reflexed free outer perianth lobes and ornamented, vibrantly...
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Bulbophyllum jingdongense, a new species from South China and Laos belonging to the Cirrhopetalum alliance (Orchidaceae), is described and illustrated. It is morphologically distinct from all other known species in the alliance on account of the following diagnostic characters: pseudobulbs compressed subglobose; sepals and petals with dense, reddis...
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Najas (Hydrocharitaceae) is a cosmopolitan genus of 30–40 species of aquatic plants. While an infrageneric subdivision into two subgenera is generally accepted, various sectional classifications proposed in subg. Caulinia have been controversial. Earlier analyses identified tropical Asia, which harbors more than one-third of all species, as the are...
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A new species belonging to the terrestrial orchid genus Nervilia is described from Kasi District, Vientiane Province, northern Laos. Referable to the widespread and species-rich N. adolphi/ punctata alliance on account of its solitary flower, slender white and violet-marked labellum and glabrous, angular leaf, N. kasiensis is morphologically most c...
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Vegetative propagation (clonal growth) conveys several evolutionary advantages that positively affect life history fitness and is a widespread phenomenon among angiosperms that also reproduce sexually. However, a bias towards clonality can interfere with sexual reproduction and lead to sexual extinction, although a dearth of effective genetic tools...
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A major project to study the phytodiversity of the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot was initiated by Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Hong Kong, in 2011, with the aim of surveying primary forest fragments and identifying conservation priorities within this expansive but highly threatened ecoregion. The Vang Vieng area of Vientiane Province, norther...
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A project to study the phytodiversity of the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot (IBBH) was initiated by Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Hong Kong, in 2011, with the aim of surveying primary forest fragments and identifying conservation priorities within this expansive but highly threatened ecoregion. Vang Vieng District of Vientiane Province, northe...
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Hackelochloa is a pantropical genus of plant in the Poaceae, in which only two species have been included, H. granularis and H. porifera. Despite several morphological differences, notably the more prominent sculpturing of the lower glume and the larger dimensions of several quantitative traits, H. porifera has been reduced to the synonymy of H. gr...
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A new species of the terrestrial orchid genus Nervilia is described and illustrated from material collected at several localities in the Greater Mekong region of Southeast Asia. The multi-flowered inflorescence bearing relatively large flowers with a pubescent lip, and the many-veined, cordate-reniform leaf blade that is held well above ground leve...
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The tribe Oryzeae is represented in Thailand by nine species (one with two varieties) in four genera. Keys to all taxa are provided together with descriptions, illustrations, photos, ecological data and notes, including IUCN conservation assessments. The single endemic species, Leersia stipitata Bor, is regarded as globally critically endangered, w...
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Abstract— Widespread and poorly studied species complexes confound phylogenetic understanding of the Old World terrestrial orchid genus Nervilia. Recent taxonomic studies have suggested greater species richness in Asia than previously envisaged. We used morphological, cytological, and molecular phylogenetic analyses to confirm the existence of a no...
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The epiphytic orchid Bulbophyllum ambrosia bears solitary, sweet-smelling, nectariferous flowers that attract honeybees in considerable numbers, but it is self-incompatible, making fruit-set in the wild infrequent. Even so, the species is relatively abundant throughout its range in Asia. The species is described and illustrated and its taxonomic hi...
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The ephemeral, leafless orchids Didymoplexiella siamensis and Gastrodia peichatieniana are newly recorded from Hong Kong. A lectotype is selected for the former, and the recently described D. denticulata from southern Vietnam is reduced to its synonymy. Full descriptions and global conservation assessments are presented for these hitherto poorly kn...
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The Old World terrestrial orchid genus Nervilia Commerson ex Gaudichaud-Beaupré in Freycinet (1829: 421, t. 35) remains poorly known, especially in Asia. It is diagnosed by its hysteranthous habit, in which a single, terminal, one–several-flowered inflorescence and a single ovate to cordate leaf emerge in succession from a single globose tuber. Thi...
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A new species, Gastrochilus kadooriei, is described from Hong Kong. Notes are presented on its distribution, ecology and conservation status, and its distinguishing features are compared with those of allied taxa. Gastrochilus jeitouensis is reduced to the synonymy of G. distichus, and a lectotype is assigned for G. pseudodistichus. Gastrochilus fu...
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A new species, Gastrochilus kadooriei, is described from Hong Kong. Notes are presented on its distribution, ecology and conservation status, and its distinguishing features are compared with those of allied taxa. Gastrochilus jeitouensis is reduced to the synonymy of G. distichus, and a lectotype is assigned for G. pseudodistichus. Gastrochilus fu...
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We examined the level of specificity exhibited by seeds of Cyrtosia septentrionalis for germination-inducing fungi. Three wood-decomposing Armillaria species (A. gallica, A. mellea subsp. nipponica and A. tabescens) known to colonize adult plants and an unidentified species of Polyporales isolated from naturally growing protocorms were tested. Xylo...
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Nervilia brevilobata C. S. Leou, C. L. Yeh & S. W. Gale sp. nov. (Orchidaceae), discovered in Taiwan and Hainan, is described and illustrated. The new species belongs to the one-flowered group in Nervilia, but is readily distinguished from other species in the genus by the saccate base of the lip, the truncate-rounded lobes of the hypochile, and by...
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The jewel orchid Cheirostylis pusilla Lindl. is newly recorded from Hong Kong, a significant distance from Yunnan Province, the only other confirmed locality for the species in China. A full description, photos and line drawings are presented for this hitherto poorly known species, and its conservation status is assessed. Cheirostylis malleifera C....
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A new one-flowered species of Nervilia is described and illustrated from plants collected in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, eastern Thailand. The glabrous, angular leaf of Nervilia khaoyaica Suddee, Watthana & S. W. Gale affiliates it to the taxonomically difficult and widespread Nervilia adolphi – punctata species alliance of Section Linervia, but it...
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Nervilia nipponica is a tuberous terrestrial orchid that has a highly restricted distribution within common secondary evergreen forest communities in central and western Japan. Such a limited occurrence could be attributable to a requirement for a specific mycorrhizal fungus. As part of a broader examination of this hypothesis, we sought to elucida...
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The jewel orchid Cheirostylis pusilla Lindl. is newly recorded from Hong Kong, a significant distance from Yunnan Province, the only other confirmed locality for the species in China. A full description, photos and line drawings are presented for this hitherto poorly known species, and its conservation status is assessed. Cheirostylis malleifera C....
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The morphological and anatomical analyses of leaves in the serpentine ecotype of Adenophora triphylla var. japonica (Regel) H. Hara were carried out. In comparison to the normal type of this variety, the serpentine ecotype has a narrower leaf due to decrease in the number and size of cells. The stenophyllization process of the serpentine ecotype is...
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The comparative morphology and anatomy of leaves in the serpentine endemic Aster hispidus Thunb. var. leptocladus (Makino) Okuyama and its close relative A. hispidus var. hispidus were examined. Our morphological analysis revealed that the leaves of A. hispidus var. leptocladus were significantly smaller and narrower than those of A. hispidus var....
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Global conservation of plant biodiversity on tropical islands is a major priority, as approximately one third of all endangered plant species are insular endemics. Checklists can be an important first step in determining conservation priorities on islands. Hainan, the largest island in the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot, and therefore an internati...
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Hainan, the second largest island of China, has the most extensive and best preserved tropical forests of this country. A network of 68 protected areas (54 of them are terrestrial) provides in situ conservation for the unique ecosystems of the island. We: (1) discuss an updated check-list of seed-plant species that are endemic to Hainan, (2) evalua...
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Orchid seed capsules typically contain several thousand seeds, but obstacles to germination and development greatly constrain the establishment of new plants. This study compares the germination response of orchid seeds from the same capsule in situ and in vitro to assess the potential of soil conditions to influence recruitment. Mature capsules of...
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An understanding of the extent to which reproductive strategy and seed dispersal lead to the structuring of genetic diversity in space is required when planning measures towards the conservation of endangered plant species. In this study, genetic structure in the endangered terrestrial orchid Nervilia nipponica was investigated using amplified frag...

Citations