Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 17(2): 199-202, 2010 (December) © 2010 Bangladesh Association of Plant Taxonomists - Short communication REDISCOVERY OF APPENDICULA CORNUTA BL. (ORCHIDACEAE) FROM MEGHALAYA, INDIA M. BHAUMIK1 AND C. DEORI2 Central Botanical Laboratory, Botanical Survey of India, Howrah 711 103, India Keywords: Rediscovery; Appendicula cornuta Bl.; Generic record; Meghalaya; India. The genus Appendicula Bl. (Orchidaceae) was established by C. L. Blume in his Bijdragen tot der Flora van Nederlandsch Indiё. It is allied to the genus Podochilus Bl. and is represented by c. 60 species from Tropical Asia to Polynesia (Pearce and Cribb, 2002). In India it comprises of only 2 species, viz. A. reflexa Bl. from Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Singh et al., 2001) and A. cornuta Bl. from Assam and Sikkim (King and Pantling, 1898). While on a tour to Leska region, Jaintia Hills district Meghalaya, an Appendicula species was collected in flowering condition and after critical study the same led to its identity as A. cornuta Bl. This species was first described by Blume in 1825 based on a plant collected from Seribu and Pantjar, Java. In India, it was first reported by Hooker (1890) as A. bifaria (Wall. ex Lindl.) Lindl. from Assam (Cachar, Keenan) and Sikkim by King and Pantling (1898), Pantling no. 288A (BM, K) and 288B (K) which has been later reduced to synonym of A. cornuta. The species in India has not been collected after Pantling’s collection. Although, Pradhan (1979) has simply mentioned its occurrence in Meghalaya without any specific locality and evidence of herbarium sheet, the scrutiny of various other later literatures viz. Jain and Mehrotra (1984), Kataki (1986), Bose et al. (1999), and Kumar and Manilal (1992), and thorough herbarium study from ASSAM and CAL also could not trace the occurrence of the same. Hence it is the first report of rediscovery to India from a different locality after more than a century constituting a new generic record for Meghalaya hitherto unreported in the recent works of Singh et al. (2001). A detailed description and illustration with relevant notes are given here to facilitate its identification in field. Appendicula cornuta Bl., Bijdr. 1: 302 (1825); Pradhan, Indian Orch. Guide Identif. & Cultr.2: 442 (1979); Seidenf. Op. Bot. 89: 138. t. 88 (1986); Pearce & Cribb, Orch. Bhutan: 391. t. 92 (2002); Dendrobium bifarium Lindl., Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl.: 81 (1830). Appendicula bifaria (Wall. ex Lindl.) Lindl. in Hooker’s J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 7: 35 1 Corresponding author. E-mail: dr_manasb@yahoo.com Botanical Survey of India, Eastern Circle, Shillong -793 003, India. E-mail: Hunti23@yahoo.co.in 2 200 BHAUMIK AND DEORI (1855); Hook. f. Fl. Brit. India 6: 82 (1890); King & Pantl., Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. Calcutta 8: 248. Pl. 330 (1898); Brühl, Guide Orch. Sikkim : 146 (1926). A. bifaria var. wallichiana Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 6: 83 (1890). Podochilus cornutus (Bl.) Schltr. in Mem. Herb. Boissier. 8(21): 34 (1900). (Fig. 1) Tufted medium sized epiphytic herb. Roots filiform, c. 0.1 mm in diameter, villous. Stems 12-27 cm long, terete, sheathed; internodes 0.8-1.0 cm apart. Leaves many, 1.5-2.8 × 0.7-1.2 cm, oblong-lanceolate, emarginate and mucronate at apex, distichous, many Fig. 1. Appendicula cornuta Bl. a. Habit; b. Inflorescence; c. Floral perigone with lip; d. Ovary with column; e. Column with anther and stelidia; f. Anther, dorsal view; g. Anther, ventral view; h. Pollinia (Bhaumik 116537, ASSAM). REDISCOVERY OF APPENDICULA CORNUTA BL. (ORCHIDACEAE) 201 veined. Inflorescence terminal or axillary, 3-7-flowered raceme; peduncles 6-8 mm long, pale green; floral bract 7-8 × 1.5-2 mm, lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous, entire, pale green, persistent, 3-nerved. Pedicel and ovary c. 2 mm long. Flowers 4.0-6.5 mm long from the tip of the dorsal sepal to the tip of the mentum, sepals and petals white, become yellow at maturity. Sepals 3-nerved; dorsal sepal 4.0-4.2 × 2.6-2.8 mm, broadly ovate, concave, acute to apiculate, glabrous; lateral sepals 4.0-4.2× 2.7-3.1 mm, broader at base, broadly ovate-lanceolate, acute, base attached with the column foot to form a mentum; mentum c. 3.1 mm long, rounded; petals 3.0-3.2 × 2.0-0.1 mm, clawed at base, broadly ovate, sub-acute, glabrous, 3-nerved, margins minutely undulate towards apex, hyaline. Lip c. 6 × 3 mm, obscurely 3-lobed, oblong-elliptic, fleshy, reflexed; hypochile with basal horse-shoe shaped appendage; epichile narrowed into a truncate, obscurely 2-lobed tip, appendage cylindrical, c. 1 × 1 mm. Column with foot c. 3 mm long, pale yellow; stelidia 1.0-1.2 mm long, pointed towards apex. Anthers 1.5 × 0.8 mm, cordate, acuminate, pale yellow. Pollinia 6 in 2 pairs, 1.1-1.3 mm long, unequal. Fruits c. 6.0 × 1.5 mm, ovoid, ridged. Flowering and Fruiting: September-December. Distribution: India (Sikkim, Assam and Meghalaya); Myanmar, China, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, East Indonesia, East Malaysia and the Philippines. Specimen examined: Meghalaya, Jaintia Hills district, Leska, north bank of Amshaning River, c. 600 m, 26.09.2007, Bhaumik 116537 (ASSAM). Note: Appendicula cornuta in the wild is rare and was found growing in tropical forests in the branches of medium sized trees up to 15-20 ft. high associated with other orchid species such as Podochilus khasianus Hook. f., Dendrobium ochreatum Wall. ex Lindl., Eria paniculata Lindl., Bulbophyllum monanthum (Kze.) J. J. Sm. and ferns, mosses etc. The shape of sepals, petals and lip of A. cornuta found in Meghalaya shows variation compared to the Sikkim plant as illustrated by Pearce and Cribb (2002) from Parish 365 (K). Moreover, Seidenfaden (1986) has mentioned that ‘the species shows considerable variability in the shape of the central callus on the epichile of the lip and careful study of fresh material may lead to establishment of several varieties’. Acknowledgement The authors are thankful to Dr. M. Sanjappa, Director, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata and Dr. T. M. Hynniewta, Ex Head and Joint Director, Botanical Survey of India, Eastern Circle Shillong for providing facilities and encouragement. References Bose, T.K., Bhattacharjee, S.K., Das, P. and Basak, U.C. 1999. Orchids of India. Naya Prokash, Calcutta p. 97. Hooker, J.D. 1890. Flora of British India, Vol. 6: 82. L. Reeve & Co., Ltd. Ashford, Kent. Jain, S.K. and Mehrotra, A. 1984. A preliminary inventory of Orchidaceae in India. Howrah. p.10 202 BHAUMIK AND DEORI Kataki, S.K. 1986. Orchids of Meghalaya. Forest Department, Shillong, Meghalaya. King, G. and Pantling, R. 1898. The Orchids of the Sikkim Himalaya. Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. Calcutta 8: 248 249. Kumar, S.C. and Manilal, K.S. 1992. Epiphytic Orchids of India. Rheedea 2(2): 82. Pearce, N.R. and Cribb, P.J. 2002. Flora of Bhutan. Vol. III, part 3. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. pp. 391-393. Pradhan, U.C. 1979. Indian Orchids: Guide to Identification and Culture. II. Kalimpong. p. 442. Seidenfaden, G. 1986. Orchid genera in Thailand XIII. Thirty-three epidendroid genera. Opera Botanica 89: 135-142. Singh, K.P., Phukan, S. and Bujarbarua, P. 2001. ‘Orchidaceae’ in Floristic Diversity and Conservation Stratergies in India Vol. IV. in (Singh, N. P., Singh, D.K. and Singh, K.P. eds.) Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta. p. 1743. (Manuscript received on 2 July, 2009; revised on 25 May, 2010)