Oberonia caulescens Lindl.

Geiger, D. L., 2019, Studies on Oberonia 5 (Orchidaceae: Malaxideae). Twenty-four new synonyms, and a corrected spelling, Blumea 64 (2), pp. 123-139 : 125

Oberonia caulescens Lindl.

Oberonia caulescens Lindl. (1830) 15. — Type: Wallich 1950 ((lecto Ansari & Balakrishnan (1990: 30:inadvertent designation) K 0011114800), Nepal.

Oberonia katakiana A.N. Rao (1996) 711, f. 1–9. — Type: A.N. Rao 26077-A (holo OHT), A.N. Rao 26077-B (para CAL), A.N. Rao 26077-C (para AS- SAM), India, Arunachal Pradesh, W Kameng District, Tipi , 200 m, syn. nov.

Notes — Oberonia caulescens has a number of fairly well-established synonyms, which are not discussed here; see Ansari & Balakrishnan (1990) for the most recent summary.

Oberonia katakiana is here considered a clear synonym of O. caulescens . The type of O. katakiana was compared by Rao (1996) with O. auriculata [= O. caulescens ], it is supposed to differ in the absence of a caulescent habit, the degree of both reflexing of petals and sepals and of less pronounced erosion of the margins of the petals, and the flowers are arranged in whorls instead of scattered, and the basal auricles of the lip are less pronounced, described as absent. All character states fall within the variation of O. caulescens , hence O. katakiana is considered a synonym.