 |
| Bulbophyllum wolongense G.W. Hu, Y.H. Cheng & Q.F. Wang, in Jiang, Cheng, Liu, Jin, Mutie, ... et Wang, 2023. |
Abstract
A new orchid species, Bulbophyllum wolongense, from the Wolong National Nature Reserve (Sichuan, China), is proposed and described. Using the nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) and complete plastome sequences, we examined the phylogenetic position of this species and explored the plastome variation among the species of genus Bulbophyllum. The plastome of B. wolongense had a length of 157,496 bp and encoded 132 genes. Comparative plastid genome analysis revealed that the plastome length of B. wolongense was within the length range of other Bulbophyllum plastomes, and the plastome of B. wolongense was relatively conserved in structure compared to other Bulbophyllum plastomes that presented some genes (ndh, accD, and trnL-UAA) loss or pseudogenization, a small inversion, and inverted repeat boundary expansions. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses of 17 Bulbophyllum whole plastomes, 67 shared protein-coding genes from 17 Bulbophyllum whole plastomes, and 4 DNA (ITS, Xdh, matK, and psbA-trnH) concatenated sequences from 127 Bulbophyllum species, all strongly supported that B. wolongense is a member of the Cirrhopetalum alliance and most likely in B. sect. Brachyantha. Further comparative morphological analysis showed that B. wolongense is clearly morphologically distinguishable from its closely related species in the phylogenetic tree.
 |
| Photographs of Bulbophyllum wolongense. (A) Plant habit. (B and C) Flowering plant. (D) Inflorescences. (E) Flower, front view. (F) Flower, lateral view. (G) Anatomy of flower. (H) Floral bract. (I) Dorsal view, removed dorsal sepal. (J) Lip, front, lateral, and dorsal views (from left to right). (K) Ovary, column, and lip. (L) Anther cap and pollinia. (M) Anther cap, ventral, lateral, and dorsal views (from left to right). Photos by Hui Jiang, Shuai Peng, and Yue-Hong Cheng. |
 |
| Illustrations of Bulbophyllum wolongense. (A) Flowering plant. (B) Floral bract. (C) Flower, dorsal view. (D) Flower, lateral view. (E) Flower, anterior view. (F) Anatomy of flower ([a] dorsal sepal; [b] petal; [c] lateral sepal; [d] lip; [e] pedicel, ovary, and column). (G) Pollinia. (H) Anther cap, ventral and lateral views (from left to right). (I) Lip, front, dorsal, and lateral views (from left to right). Drawn by Jing Tian. |
Bulbophyllum wolongense G.W. Hu, Y.H. Cheng & Q.F. Wang, sp. nov.
Diagnosis: This new species is most similar to Bulbophyllum omerandrum, and both share a 1 to 3 flowered umbellate or condensed racemose inflorescence, yellow flowers, lateral sepals twisted near base and divergent, but differs from the latter by having pseudobulbs that are 4 to 6 cm apart on rhizome (1.5 to 4 cm in B. omerandrum), petiole narrowed at base to 1.2 to 1.8 cm (subsessile in B. omerandrum); dorsal sepals and petals apex not fimbriate-ciliate (apical margin fimbriate-ciliate or slightly hairy in B. omerandrum); anther cap apex subtruncate and with irregular dentate carving (shortly fimbriate on apical margin in B. omerandrum); flowering in September to October (March to April in B. omerandrum) (Fig. 3 and Table S3).
Etymology: The specific epithet “wolongense” refers to the locality of the type specimen, Wolong National Nature Reserve, Wenchuan county, Sichuan, China.
Chinese name: Wò Lóng Juǎn Bàn Lán (卧龙卷瓣兰).
Distribution and habitat: Bulbophyllum wolongense has so far been collected only in Wolong National Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China. It is epiphytic on the trunk of Taxus wallichiana var. chinensis at a cliff edge of a valley, in a habitat with canopy density of ca. 60% to 70%, at an elevation of ca. 1,630 m.
Hui Jiang, Yue-Hong Cheng, Gui-Ying Liu, Sen-Long Jin, Fredrick Munyao Mutie, Shuai Peng, Jia-Xin Yang, Shi-Xiong Ding, Jing Tian, Guang-Wan Hu and Qing-Feng Wang. 2023. Bulbophyllum wolongense, A New Orchidaceae Species from Sichuan Province in China, and Its Plastome Comparative Analysis. ECOSYSTEM HEALTH AND SUSTAINABILITY. 9: 0072. DOI: 10.34133/ehs.0072
