Oberonia padangensis Schltr.

Geiger, D. L., 2019, Studies on Oberonia 5 (Orchidaceae: Malaxideae). Twenty-four new synonyms, and a corrected spelling, Blumea 64 (2), pp. 123-139 : 134-136

Oberonia padangensis Schltr. — Fig. 13

Oberonia padangensis Schltr. (1911a) 12. — Type: Schlechter 16019 (syn B lost, AMES 11969/barcode 00102014, K 000942984, P00364414), [ Indonesia,] Sumatra, on trees near Padang-Pandjang , 900 m.

Oberonia patentifolia Ames & C.Schweinf. (in Ames (1920)) 83, pl. 90, f. I, 1. — Type: Clemens , J. 104 (syn AMES 16989/barcode 00102051), [ Malaysia, Sabah,] Mount Kinabalu, Lobang Cave, 5000 ft. Clemens 27 (para AMES 16988/barcode 00102052), [ Malaysia, Sabah, Mount Kinabalu,] Kiau, syn. nov.

Oberonia fungum-olens [sic] Burkill (1924) 292, text-fig. — Type: Burkill s.n. (lecto SING 0048298:here designated,isolecto Burkill (1924:292,text-fig.): here designated),Malaya,Malum, Perak,Tanjong, 8 Sept., 1924, syn. nov.

Notes — The species belongs in sect. Platyacron, characterised by the small auriculate hypochile and more or less expansive, bilobed epichile, and usually with papillate back side of petals and/or sepals. The habit of the plant is highly variable between species; often it is easier to distinguish species by habit than by floral morphology. Plants under all names discussed here have identical habits.

Oberonia patentifolia is here recognised as a new synonym of O. padangensis . The shared attributes include the overall vegetative habit of long narrow stems with short imbricate leaves, shorter at bottom and top, longest in the upper half of each growth, the terminal inflorescence with strongly pubescent rachis, the strongly pubescent pedicel-with-ovary, the triangular sepals, the somewhat to distinctly narrower petals, the lip with two small basal auricles clasping the column and much wider, rounded apical lobes ( Fig. 13b ).

The status of O. patentifolia types needs to be clarified and corrected. Clemens 104 is a syntype because the repository was not specified in Ames (1920), not a holotype (ICN Art. 8.1), despite the fact that the sheet bears the annotation ‘No dupl.’. Although Ames (1920) was published in Ames’ home journal, there is no explicit indication in the work as to the repository of the specimens. Clements 27 is a paratype according to ICN Art. 9.6 (contra AMES). Because Clemens 104 was designated in Ames (1920) as ‘(Type)’, that gathering is given a higher standing as a name-bearing type, while Clemens 27 is of a lower standing, i.e., a non-name-bearing paratype.

No type was designated for O. fungum-olens . A specimen collect- ed by Burkill on 8 September 1924, is at SING (SING0048298), which can reasonably be assumed to have been available for the description published in the 7 November 1924 issue of the ‘Garden’s Bulletin’. Accordingly, it qualifies as original material and is here designated as the lectotype from which Burkill’s (1924: 292, text-fig.) drawing was prepared. Burkill’s (1924: 292) note ‘ex vivo in Horto Singapurensi descripta’ does not contra- dict the availability of a preserved specimen also examined by Burkill. That specimen was previously erroneously identified as the holotype on the herbarium label, most likely by Seidenfaden in 1978 based on the matching handwriting of his annotation label, and in the SING database.

Oberonia fungum-olens has been considered a synonym of O. padangensis (O’Byrne pers. comm.), which is here confirmed. The illustration of the flower ( Fig. 13c ), as well as the comparison to O. spathulata (considered a synonym of O. padangensis ) and O. anceps (considered a taxonomic synonym of O. lycopodioides , but a frequent misidentification of O. padangensis ) and the protologue all confirm the synonymy. The habit also agrees with O. padangensis .

Oberonia padangensis shows a moderate amount of intraspecific variability. None of the attributes correlate with one another, for which reason, no taxonomic separation can be justified. The colour of the flowers varies from dark yellow to orange and light green.

Figures

Fig. 13 Oberonia padangensis. a. Oberonia patentifolia from Ames (1920); b. Oberonia fungumolens from Burkill (1924); c. flowers on living plant DLG 568/ HOAG68. Z-stack 16 images; d. SEM image L23982. — Scale bar = 1 mm.