Volume 12 > Part 1 > Year 2011 > Page 277 > Orchidaceae > Vrydagzynea

1. Vrydagzynea albida (Blume) Blume

Fl. Javae Nov. Ser.: 62, t. 19(fig. 2 & details 1–7). 1858 (1859?); Coll. Orchid.: 75, t. 19 (fig. 2 & details 1–7). 1859; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 6: 97. 1890; Seidenf., Bot. Tidsskr. 70: 75, fig. 11. 1975; Dansk Bot. Ark. 32(2): 34, fig. 16. 1978; J.B.Comber, Orchids Java: 45. 1990; Seidenf., Opera Bot. 114: 30. 1992; Seidenf. & J.J.Wood, Orchids Penins. Malays. Singap.: 65, fig. 23dg. 1992; J.B.Comber, Orchids Sumatra: 79. 2001; Sitthisajjadham, Orchid Guide Book 2 [in Thai]: 83 (bottom left), 170. 2007; Sitthisajjadham & Tripetch, Wild Orchids Thail. 2 [in Thail: 437. 2009.— Etaeria albida Blume, Bijdr.: 410. 1825. Fig. 162; Plate XXII: 4.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Flowering shoots 11–32 cm tall. Foliage leaves 3–9, scattered along the stem or crowded on its lower part, uniformly shiny green; petiole (including sheath) 1.2–2.3 cm long; lamina obliquely (obovate-helliptic to ovate-lanceolate, (sub)acute to shortly subacuminate, often mucronate, 2–6.2 by 1.3–3.5 cm, 1.5–2.5 times as long as wide. Inflorescence glandular pubescent, ellipsoid to ovoid or cylindric, 15- to many-flowered; rachis 1.7–6.8 cm long; bracts linear-oblong to narrowly oblanceolate, obtuse to acuminate, entire, glabrous, 8.4–12 by 2.7–5.3 mm. Flowers short-pedicelled, greenish-white to brownish-white. Sepals subglabrous, with fleshy apices; dorsal sepal lanceolate-oblong, rounded, 4.5–5.8 by 1.7–2.2 mm; lateral sepals obliquely elliptic-oblong, slightly falcate, rounded to obtuse, 4.6–5.8 by 2.2–3 mm. Petals obliquely lanceolate-oblong to falcately linear-lanceolate, rounded, 4.2–5.1 by 1.5–1.9 mm. Labellum ovate 3.5–4.3 mm long, with a low median papillose to papillose-pubescent ridge on the ventral side, usually splitting in a V at base; spur slenderly barrel-shaped, rounded to obtuse, 3.2–5.2 mm long. Column 2.1–2.2 mm long; anther obtuse in front, 1.5–1.6 mm long, 1.2–1.3 mm wide. Ovary (including pedicel) 5.6–9 mm long. Capsule erect, short-pedicelled, ellipsoid to oblongoid, 0.8–0.9 cm long, 0.3–0.4 cm in diameter, glabrous.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Tak (Se Pa La); SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi; PENINSULAR: Ranong, Phangnga.

Distribution : India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, Java (type), Borneo, the Philippines and possibly New Guinea.

Ecology : Shaded wet ground in tropical rain forests and seasonal evergreen forests; 400–650 m alt. Flowering: June–September.

Vernacular : Usang phu thong pha phum (เอื้องพรุทองผาภูมิ).

Notes: I have seen no herbarium specimen of Vrydagzynea albida from Ranong; the above record from this province is based on Sitthisajjadham & Tripetch (2009: 437).