PlantaeAsparagalesOrchidaceaeRaskotiBhakta BahadurSchuitemanAndréJinWei-TaoJinXiao-HuaA taxonomic revision of Herminium L. (Orchidoideae, Orchidaceae)PhytoKeys194201720177917410.3897/phytokeys.79.11215 Herminium kalimpongense Pradhan, Indian Orchids: Guide Identif. & Cult.1: 52–53. 1976. Androcorys kalimpongensis(Pradhan) Agrawala & H.J. Chowdhery, Kew Bull. 65: 106. 2010.Type.

INDIA. West Bengal, Kalimpong, 16.06.1974, Pradhan U.C., (Holotype: Herbarium Pradhan, not located).

Description.

Plant 12–15 cm tall. Tuber 1–1.5 × 1 cm, globose to ovoid globose. Stem 0.8–1 cm long with 1, sessile, radical leaf. Leaf cordate, 2–2.5 cm, somewhat fleshy. Scape slender, 12–15 cm with tubular, acute, peduncle-scales, rachis with 3–4 well-spaced flowers, floral bracts 1 cm, apex acuminate. Flower half-opening, sepals subequal. Dorsal sepal 6 × 2 mm, concave, apex obtuse; lateral sepals 6 × 1 mm, apex acute. Petals 6 × 1 mm, hooded with dorsal sepal, apex acute. Lip 7 × 1.5 mm, entire, base broader than apex, spurless. Column well-developed, anther broad, pollinia ovate-globose with small viscidia, stigma transversely oblong.

Flowering.

August.

Habitat.

Not known. Collected at an elevation of 2000 m.

Distribution.

India.

Note.

Our description is based on the protologue in Pradhan (1976). Although the cordate leaf of this species as described is different from that of all other species of Herminium, the floral characters suggest that it belongs in this genus. However, further study is required to determine its taxonomic position.

PradhanUC (1976) Indian Orchids: Guide to Identification and Culture (Vol. 1). Self Published, Kalimpong, 747 pp.