Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2018 | 10(5): 11683–11685

 

 

 

 

Notes on fairy orchids (Magnoliopsida: Asparagales: Orchidaceae: Oberonia) of Sri Lanka: revision in regional distribution and documentation on vegetative propagation

 

Menaka Ariyarathne 1 & Deepthi Yakandawala 2

 

1,2 Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya, Galaha Road, Peradeniya 20400, Sri Lanka

1,2 Post Graduate Institute of Science, University of Peradeniya, Galaha Road, Peradeniya 20400, Sri Lanka

1 menakaa306@gmail.com (corresponding author),

2 deepthiyakandawala@gmail.com

 

 

 

doi: http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3854.10.5.11683-11685

 

Editor: Pankaj Kumar, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) Corporation, Tai Po, Hong Kong S.A.R., China.                      Date of publication: 26 April 2018 (online & print)

 

Manuscript details: Ms # 3854 | Received 23 October 2017 | Final received 23 February 2018 | Finally accepted 29 March 2018

 

Citation: Ariyarathne, M. & D. Yakandawala (2018). Notes on fairy orchids (Magnoliopsida: Asparagales: Orchidaceae: Oberonia) of Sri Lanka: revision in regional distribution and documentation on vegetative propagation. Journal of Threatened Taxa 10(5): 11683–11685; http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3854.10.5.11683-11685

 

Copyright: © Ariyarathne & Yakandawala 2018. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.

 

Funding: National Research Council, Sri Lanka (Grant Number- NRC 12-121).

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: Authors wish to thank Dr. Malaka Wijesinghe for his valuable support during the field work. Department of Wildlife conservation and Forest department of Sri Lanka for providing necessary permissions. This research was financially supported by National research council of Sri Lanka (NRC 12-121).

 

 

 

 

The genus Oberonia Lindley was first described by Lindley in 1830 [Lindley 1963 (1830)], after ÔOberonÕ the mythological king of fairies.  At the beginning Lindley described 13 Oberonia species and subsequently many species were recognized and are still being described.  According to Pridgeon et al. (2006) the genus consists of 150–200 species but based on the latest updates, this genus consists of 343 accepted species (eMonocot 2015).

Sri Lanka harbors 16 Oberonia species including the newly recognized Oberonia meegaskumbura Priyadarshana, Wijewardana & Kumar (Fernando & Ormerod 2008; MOE 2012; Priyadarshana et al. 2017).  According to Fernando & Ormerod (2008) there are eight endemic Oberonia species in Sri Lanka, viz.: O. claviloba Jayaweera (1963), O. dolabrata Jayaweera (1963), O. longibracteata Lindley, (1830), O. quadrilatera Jayaweera (1963), O. scyllae Lindley (1859), O. truncata Lindley (1859), O. walliesilvae Jayaweera (1963), and O. weragamaensis Jayaweera (1963).  In 2012 the national red list of Sri Lanka had recognized nine endemic species including O. forcipata Lindley (1859) in addition to the eight species listed by Fernando & Ormerod (2008).  Though Jayaweera (1981) reported O. forcipata as a species endemic to Sri Lanka, Johnsingh (2001) reported the occurrence of O. forcipata from Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in India.

Similarly, Oberonia longibracteata is another species that has been recorded as endemic to Sri Lanka by the Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon (Trimen 1893), the Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon (Jayaweera 1981), an annotated check list of Orchids of Sri Lanka (Fernando & Ormerod 2008), and the national red list of threatened flora and fauna of Sri Lanka (MOE 2012).  Contradictory to these reports, O. longibracteata has been recorded from India (Kerala), Thailand, Cambodia, China and Vietnam (Ansari & Balakrishnan 1990; Pridgeon et al. 2006; eFloras 2008; Averyanov 2013).  It is recorded as a well-known folk medicine for scorpion bites in Cambodia (Lewis & Elvin-Lewis 2003; Pridgeon et al. 2006).

 This record once again reduces the number of endemic Oberonia species in Sri Lanka to eight (including Oberonia meegaskumbura) and the total number of endemics in the family Orchidaceae remain at 50 with the addition of the recently recognized endemics, O. meegaskumbura and Podochilus warnagalensis Wijewardana, Priyadarshana, Arangala, Attanagoda, Samarakoon & Kumar (Wijewardana et al. 2016).  The accurate status of a species is important for the validity of the other documentation such as taxonomic revisions and evaluation of the conservation categories during the red listing and the richness of the biodiversity of the island.

Sexual reproduction is commonly observed in the family Orchidaceae.   However, vegetative propagation by the means of  producing adventitious buds with roots towards the ends of stems/leaves is also recorded in few genera such as Podochilus Blume (1825), Vanda Jones ex R. Br. (1820), and Phalaenopsis Blume (1825).   According to the available literature, the reproduction of species belonging to the genus Oberonia was exclusively sexual, via seeds (Jones et al. 2010 who referred to (Clements 1989; Dockrill 1969, 1992; Schlechter 1911, 1982; Seidenfaden 1978)), until an observation was made in 2013 by Averyanov on vegetative propagation by means of producing new plantlets from the axils of floral bracts of old inflorescence in Oberonia longibracteata.  In the present communication we record a recent observation, on vegetative propagation of the same species, O. longibracteata, and this will be the first record of vegetative propagation of an Oberonia species in Sri Lanka.  This observation was made at Hantane Forest Reserve at an elevation of 1,203m during the dry season in Kandy District, Sri Lanka (Image 1).

These propagules were observed, emerging at a distance of about ½ to ⅔ from the base of the fleshy matured leaves where the drying inflorescence is attached.  These newly emerged keikis have the ability to grow into a mature plant while being attached to the mother plant and also produce flowers and fruits.  Once this leaf bearing the keiki dries off, the keiki starts growing as an independent plant by gradually attaching to the nearby surface.

As this observation was made during the dry season in November, this could be an adaptation to survive and reproduce.  This mechanism ensures the reproductive success and survival of the species during exhausting environmental conditions by producing fully grown propagules.

  

 

 

 

 

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