Prev Taxon: Genus Calanthe section Aceratochilus
Current Genus: Genus Calanthe section Calanthe
Next Taxon: Genus Calanthe section Preptanthe
Calanthe takeuchii
Calanthe takeuchii Ormerod & P.J.Cribb, Malesian Orchid Journal 8 (2011) 57, fig. 11.
Type: Takeuchi 7316 (holo AMES; iso LAE).
Synonyms:
Terrestrial herb up to 45 cm tall. Leaves suberect, elliptic 5, 20—3 7 by 5.5—11 cm; petiole up to 7 cm long, slender; apex acuminate. Inflorescence up to 45 cm tall, densely several-flowered; peduncle 30—40 cm long, pubescent, bearing three small suberect, sheathing, acuminate scale leaves; floral bracts suberect to upcurved, narrowly lanceolate, 0.5—0.9 by 0.1—0.2 cm; apex acuminate; pubescent. Flowers resupinate, sepals and petals reflexed, glabrous on outer surface of sepals. Pedicel-with-ovary 1.2—1.5 cm long, pubescent. Median sepal elliptic, 1.2—1.4 by 0.5 cm; apex obtuse; the lateral margins somewhat reflexed. Lateral sepals slightly obliquely elliptic, 1.2 by 0.5 cm; apex acuminate. Petals elliptic-lanceolate, 1.2—1.3 by 0.7—0.9 cm; apex rounded; 3-nerved. Lip spreading, 3-lobed 1.6 by 1.8 cm; lateral lobes spreading, semi-elliptic, 0.8 by 1.3 cm, in front rounded; midlobe broadly obtriangular, 0.9 by 1.4 cm, bilobulate, each lobule 0.8 cm long; callus small, consisting of 3 tapering lines of warts from apex of column running onto claw of mid-lobe; spur decurved, cylindric, 2.2—2.4 cm long. Column dilated from a slender base 0.9 cm long, slightly pubescent at apex.
(after Cribb, Ormerod & Dudley 2011)
Leaves dark green, distinctively white-spotted; below paler. Flowers with greenish white sepals and petals, a white lip and a greenish yellow spur.
Terrestrial in montane forest undergrowth on limestone karst; 490—600 m. alt.
New Guinea (endemic).
Papua New Guinea: Southern Highlands Prov; see map
Warm growing epiphyte.
September.
- Family Orchidaceae
- Subfamily Epidendroideae
- Tribe Undetermined
- Subtribe Collabiinae
- Genus Calanthe
- Section Calanthe
- Species Calanthe takeuchii
Calanthe takeuchii flowers resemble those of C. engleriana Schltr., but it is much smaller in habit and flower size. It is apparently endemic to an area of limestone karst in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea.
The people of the Kutubu patrol area of the Southern Highlands, who call this plant himulaya, claim that its leaves, when mixed with dog food, increase the stamina and strength of their dogs to such a degree that they are able to attack and kill crocodiles.
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Calanthe takeuchii
Calanthe takeuchii Ormerod & P.J.Cribb, Malesian Orchid Journal 8 (2011) 57, fig. 11. Drawn by Juliet Beentje from type: Takeuchi 7316 (holo AMES; iso LAE).