Orchids of New Guinea

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Peristylus maingayi

Peristylus maingayi (King & Pantl.) J.J.Wood & Ormerod in T.E.Beaman et al., Orchids Sarawak (2001) 368

Type: Maingay 3354, Kew Distr. 1663 (Singapore) (holo K).

Synonyms:

Habenaria maingayi King & Pantl., J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 66 (1897) 604
Herminium annamense Gagnep., Bull. Soc. Bot. France 79 (1932) 36 -
- Type: Eberhardt 1901 (Vietnam, Annam, Langbian) (syn P); Lecomte & Finet 1534 (Dalat) (syn P)
Peristylus candidus J.J.Sm., Orchid. Java (1905) 36 -
- Type: Collector? (Java, Mt. Salak; Ambon; Singapore) (syn. BO?)
Habenaria candida (J.J.Sm.) Masam., Enum. Phan. Born. (1942) 188 (non Dalz.)
Habenaria geoffrayi Gagnep., Bull. Soc. Bot. France 78 (1931) 69 -
- Type: Geoffray 491 (Cambodia, Pnom-leo) (holo P)
Habenaria lacertifera Ridl., Fl. Malay Penins. 4 (1924) 230 (non Lindl.) -
- Type: Ridley s.n. (Malay Peninsula, several loc.); s.n. (Singapore)
Habenaria langbianensis Gagnep., Bull. Soc. Bot. France 78 (1931) 71 -
- Type: Evrard 1219 (Vietnam, Annam, Lang-bian) (holo P)
Peristylus langbianensis (Gagnep.) Tang & F.T.Wang, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 1 (1951) 64
Peristylus nymanianus Kraenzl., in Südsee Schumann & Lauterb., Nachtr. Fl. Schutzgeb. (1905) 76.
Habenaria ovariophora Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 9 (1911) 434.
Habenaria ovoidea R.S.Rogers & C.T.White, Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensland 32 (1920) (1921) 140 -
- Type: Banfield s.n. (Australia, Q, Dunk Islands) (holo BRI; iso AD)
Platanthera sumatrana Schltr., Bull. Herb. Boissier, sér. 2, 6 (1906) 296 -
- Type: Burck s.n. (Sumatra, Padang) (holo B, lost)
Habenaria sumatrana (Schltr.) Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 45, Beibl. 104 (1911) 3

Terrestrial herb to c. 50 cm tall. Tuber oblongoid, c. 1.8 cm long, 0.9 cm diam. Stem very short, with c. 3 leaves. Leaves almost radical, 7 by 3.2 cm, horizontally spreading, oblong, acute, apiculate. Inflorescence c. 45 cm tall, laxly many-flowered, with the flowers spirally arranged; rachis angular, c. 11 cm long. Ovary appressed to the rachis, 1.2 cm long. Floral bract lanceolate, acuminate. Median sepal 0.7 by 0.3 cm, oblong-ovate. Lateral sepals 0.6 cm long, obliquely lanceolate, subfalcate, with somewhat recurved apex. Petals 0.73 cm long, oblong, gradually narrowed towards the apex. Lip 0.6 cm long, at base adnate to the column and the petals, 3-lobed; lateral lobes 0.35 cm long, strongly divergent, linear-lanceolate, subfalcate, with incurved, acuminate apex; mid-lobe much smaller, 0.2 cm long, apex incurved; spur small, 0.15 cm long, curved towards the front, ovoid, constricted at the base, apex acute. Column very short, on either side with a small warty auricle that is adnate to the lip; anther obtuse, with the thecae close together, stigmata small, adnate to the auricles and the base of the lip; pollinia with rather long caudicle.
(After Smith, 1905, as Peristylus candidus J.J.Sm.)

Colours:

Flower pure white, spur green.

Habitat:

Terrestrial in grassland and on swampy ground; 793 to 1800 m.

Distribution:

Malesia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi, Moluccas, New Guinea, ?Philippines), Cambodia, Vietnam, Australia.

Distribution New Guinea:

Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea. See map

Cultivation:

Intermediate growing terrestrial.

Flowering time in the wild:

March, April, May.

References:

Smith, J.J., Orchid. Java, Fig.-Atl. (1908) fig. 18, as Peristylus candidus J.J.Sm.
Smith, J.J., Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, sér. 3, 9 (1927) 23, as Peristylus candidus J.J.Sm.
Schlechter, R., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 74 (1934) t. 2, fig. 7, as Habenaria sumatrana (Schltr.) Schltr.
Schlechter, R., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 74 (1934) t. 1, fig. 2, as Platanthera sumatrana Schltr.

Classification:

Family Orchidaceae
Subfamily Orchidoideae
Tribe Orchideae
Subtribe Orchidinae
Genus Peristylus
Species Peristylus maingayi