Orchidaceae of Hong Kong
HABENARIA, Willd.
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For generic characters of the genus Habenaria, Willd., (Platanthera, Rich.) vide H.K.N. Vol. I, p. 114.
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PLATANTHERA OBCORDATA, Lindl.
HABENARIA GALEANDRA, Benth.
Leaves oval-
Tubers small, globular. Stem 6 to 8 inches high. oblong; the larger ones 1 to 2 inches long passing into the bracts, which are all oblong, leafy, and spreading, the lower ones as large as the stem-leaves. Flowers distant, white variegated with lilac, mostly shorter than the bracts, Sepals lanceolate, 3 lines long, the upper one arching over the linear petals, the 2 lower spreading when fully open. Labellum clawed, broadly obcordate or nearly orbicular, 5 lines long, waved on the margin. Spur Anther-cells nearly or pouch very broad at the base, short and obtuse.
4
parallel." Not known out of the island, but nearly allied to the N. Indian Platanthera obcordata. Lindl., which is chiefly distinguished by a very much narrower spur." Bentham (2) p. 363.
Sepals 4 inch long, lateral petals a little shorter, labellum 1⁄2 inch long by 2/5 inch wide margin slightly waved. Bracts 12 to 1⁄2 long, leaves up to 234 inches long. Plant 5-9 inches or more in height, 3-9 flowers on plant, distant. Bracts leaf-like except that they have no sheaths encircling the stem.
COLOUR OF FLOWERS: Sepals apple green to greenish yellow, lateral petals yellow tinged with green, labellum white or tinged violet, with purple markings, the tip of the labellum is sometimes obtusely rounded sometimes emarginate. It is because of this, more characteristic obcordate appearance that the specific name obcordata has been chosen.
DISTRIBUTION :- A fairly common orchid growing on grassy well drained banks, often in exposed situations, at different levels from the top of High West down to the corner of Hatton and Harlech Roads on Hong Kong Island. In the Territories, at Chun Wan, on the southern slopes of Tai- mo-shan and elsewhere.
FLOWERING SEASON:-End of May to the end of July.
ILLUSTRATIONS :-The text figure 11 depicts on the left an entire plant. The flowers have been drawn from above, from the side and from the end, this last shows the pollinia. The leaves are drawn to the same scale as the en- tire plant and consist of, on the left, the lowest bract, and on the right, the largest leaf from another and larger plant. The sheathing portion of the leaf is heavily marked with purple. Plate 25, figure 2, shows a flowering shoot about actual size.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:—Our thanks are due to J. Young Saye, Esq. for much information about local habitats and also for the photographs reproduced on plates 24 and 25. The drawings with the exceptions of figures 2, 5, 9, and 11, and insets to figures 4, and 6 were drawn by my artist Mr. Au Man So.
December 1932.
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