Oberonia griffithiana Lindl.

Geiger, D. L., 2020, Studies in Oberonia 8 (Orchidaceae: Malaxideae). Additional 24 new synonyms, a corrected spelling, and other nomenclatural matters, Blumea 65 (3), pp. 188-203 : 194

Oberonia griffithiana Lindl. — Fig. 7

Oberonia griffithiana Lindl. (1838) t. 1779/t8B. — Syntypes: Griffith s.n. ( Griffith 355 K 00097422), Burma [= Myanmar], Moulmein [= Mawlamyine].

Oberonia khuongii Aver.& V.C.Nguyen in Aver. et al. (2019) 185, 188, f. 8. — Type: Van Canh Nguyen AL 437 (holo LE 01042183),[ Vietnam,] Dak Nong province, Dak Song district , ~ 700 m, syn. nov.

Notes — Averyanov et al. (2019: 185) referred to their figure 8 as a ‘digital epitype’. As the figure is part of the protologue and original material, it cannot be an epitype per ICN (2018) Art. 9.9 and glossary.

Oberonia khuongii is identical to O. griffithiana . Shared characters include the caulescent habit, the narrow petals with irregular edges, the lip with multiply incised lateral lobes, the bifid epichile, and the granular surface of the lip. The species was mainly compared to O. cavaleriei Finet with terete leaves. Oberonia griffithiana was mentioned in the remarks, but no discriminating characters were given. Averyanov et al. (2019: f. 8) illustrated some interesting colour morphs. The red dots on the leaves are taxonomically not meaningful. A similar case is found in O. punctata J.J.Sm. (with dots) and O. subanajamensis J.J.Sm. and O. caprina Gilli without ( Geiger 2019).

It is interesting to note that the authors of O. khuongii were well aware of the identity of the specimen as O. griffithiana through personal communication by the present author, but introduced the new name anyway without further discussion or justification.

Figures

Fig. 7 Oberonia griffithiana. a. Illustration from Lindley (1838); b. representative figure of O. khuongii from Averyanov et al. (2019); c–f. HOAG 148 ex Stadt- gärtnerei Zürich, Switzerland; c. flower; d–f. scanning electron micrographs. — Scale bar = 1 mm.