Ethnobotanical
Leaflets 12: 506-512. 2008. Enumeration
of Orchids of Sirumalai Hills ( R. Kottaimuthu,1 R. Ganesan,1
V. Ganesan1 and V. Meenakshi
Sundaram2 1Ashoka
Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), 2Department
of Botany, Issued Abstract This paper presents a preliminary
enumeration of 25 species of Orchids in 17 genera from Sirumalai,
Tamil Nadu, Key Words: Orchids,
Sirumalai Hills, Tamil Nadu. Introduction The Materials and Methods The Sirumalai Hills (“small hills”) part of Eastern Ghats (Pullaiah and Rao, 2002) is situated 6.5 km south of Dindigul District and lies between 100 7’ – 100 18’ N latitude and 770 55’ – 780 12’ E longitude and covers an area of 317 km2 . The altitude from foot hill to the highest Mullupanrimalai ranges from 200 to 1379m. Geographically, the Sirumalai is an archaean formation. The gneissic rocks are referred to as charnockite and consist of mica, feldspar and quartz. The annual mean temperature of this area varies during summer and winter from 250 C to 280 C and 150 C to 100 C. The rainfall regime is a tropical dissymmetric type with the bulk of rain received during the retreating monsoon period (October – December) due to depression and cyclones (Meher-Homji, 1973). The vegetation of Sirumalai ranges from tropical thorn forest to mixed deciduous forest, dry evergreen forest, moist deciduous riparian forest and semi-evergreen forest (Champion and Seth, 2005). The present work was undertaken in
various places of the Sirumalai Hills between
January 2006 and December 2007. The collected plants were identified
taxonomically with the help of various floras (Abraham and Vatsala, 1981; Gamble and Fischer, 1997; Joseph, 1987;
Matthew, 1991; Pallithanam, 2001). Their
identification was later confirmed by matching specimens with previously
authenticated specimens available at Botanical Survey of India ( Key to the Orchids of Sirumalai Hills 1a. Epiphytic plants--------------------------------------------2 1b. Terrestrial plants-------------------------------------------13 2a. Plants with pseudobulbs-----------------------------------3 2b. Plants without pseudobulbs-------------------------------4 3a. Flowers borne in leafless pseudobulbs;
lip ciliate--- --Dendrobium macrostachyum 3b. Flowers borne in leafy stems; lip entire-----------------Cymbidium aloifolium 4a. Leaves dorsiventral-----------------------------------------5 4b. Leaves terete------------------------------------------------10 5a. Lip 2-spurred------------------------------------------------Diplocentrum recurvum 5b. Lip 1-spurred -----------------------------------------------6 6a. Flowers < 1cm wide----------------------------------------Aerides ringens 6b. Flowers > 1cm wide-------------------------------------------7 7a. Lateral lobes of lip small-------------------------------------Acampe praemorsa 7a. Lateral lobes of lip large--------------------------------------8 8a. Leaves ovate, less than 9cm long----------------------------Vanda spathulata 8b. Leaves linear, 10-20cm long---------------------------------9 9a. Flowers yellow-------------------------------------------------Vanda testacea 9b. Flowers violetish or
pink-------------------------------------Vanda tessellata 10a. Lip not spurred-----------------------------------------------11 10b. Lip spurred---------------------------------------------------Papilionanthe cylindrica 11a. Dorsal sepal up to 0.5cm long-----------------------------Luisia zeylanica 12a. Dorsal sepal up to 1.2cm long-----------------------------Luisia birchea 13a. Leaves solitary-----------------------------------------------Chrysoglossum maculatum 13b. Leaves two or more-----------------------------------------14 14a. Lip not spurred ----------------------------------------------15 14b. Lip spurred --------------------------------------------------17 15a. Plants with pseudobulbs or subterranean
tubers -------16 15b. Plants without pseudobulbs or subrerranean tubers----Tropidia
angulosa 16a. Flowers solitary---------------------------------------------Disperis neilgherrensis 16b. Flowers many in compact racemes-----------------------Geodorum densiflorum 17a. Plant a saprophyte-------------------------------------------Epipogium roseum 17b. Plants other than saprophyte-------------------------------18 18a. Plants with pseudobulbs or subterranean
tubers---------19 18b. Plants without pseudobulbs or subrerranean tubers-----25 19a. Leaves grass like and plaited-------------------------------Eulophia epidendraea 19b. Leaves not as above-----------------------------------------20 20a. Petlas
bipartite------------------------------------------------21 20b. Petals not bipartite-------------------------------------------22 21a. Inflorescence of 2-4 flowers-------------------------------Habenaria rariflora 21b. Inflorescence of several flowers--------------------------Habenaria multicaudata 22a. Leaves radical, adpressed to
ground---------------------23 22b. Leaves cauline, not adpressed
to ground----------------24 23a. Lip much longer than sepals-------------------------------Habenaria plantaginea 23b. Lip not longer than sepals----------------------------------Habenaria roxburghii 24a. Ovary long beaked. Lip longer than lateral sepals------Habenaria longicorniculata 24b. Ovary sessile. Lip not longer than lateral sepals--------Habenaria decipiens 25a. Lip with fringed flanges------------------------------------Anoectochilus elatus 25b. Lip without fringed flanges--------------------------------Zeuxine longilabris Systematic Enumeration Acampe praemorsa (Roxb.) Blatter & Mccann Specimens Examined: RKM-40033, Occasional, on way to Puliyampallam. Distribution: Aerides ringens (Lindley) C. Fischer Specimens Examined: RKM-40068,
Occasional in Nerkuthusholai and Punsholai. Distribution: Anoectochilus elatus Lindley Specimens Examined: RKM-40205,
Very rare in Kannadisholai. Distribution: Chrysoglossum maculatum (Thwaites) Hook. f. Specimens Examined: RKM-40218, Rare in Thumbisholai. Distribution: Cymbidium aloifolium (L.) Sw. Specimens Examined: RKM-40069,
Occasional in Nerkuthusholai. Distribution: Dendrobium macrostachyum Lindley Specimens Examined: RKM-40086,
Very rare, on way to Mullupanrimalai. Distribution: Diplocentrum recurvum Lindley Specimens Examined: RKM-40059,
Common, on way to Kannadisholai from Sirumalai Puthur. Distribution: Disperis neilgherrensis Wight Specimens Examined: RKM-40051,
40060, Rare in Kannadisholai. Distribution: Epipogeum roseum (D. Don) Lindl. Specimens Examined: RKM-40095,
Very rare in Kannadisholai. Distribution: Eulophia epidendraea (J. Koenig) Schltr. Specimens Examined: RKM-40195,
Occasional, on way to Nadukandamalai. Distribution: Geodorum densiflorum (Lam.) Schltr. Specimens Examined: RKM-40053,
Rare, on way to Kurangupallam. Distribution: Habenaria decipiens Wight Specimens Examined: RKM-40173,
40179, Occasional, on way to Madagamalai. Distribution: Habenaria longicorniculata J. Graham Specimens Examined: RKM-40159,
40166, Occasional, on way to Madagamalai. Distribution: Habenaria multicaudata L. J. Sedgwick Specimens Examined: RKM-40177,
Rare, on way to Madagamalai. Distribution: Habenaria plantaginea Lindley Specimens Examined: RKM-40222,
Occasional, on way to Puliyampallam. Distribution: Habenaria rariflora A. Rich Specimens Examined: RKM-40133,
40137, Rare in Vellimalai. Distribution: Habenaria roxburghii (Pers.) R. Br. Specimens Examined: RKM-40102,
Rare, on way to Thavasimadai. Distribution: Luisea birchea Blume Specimens Examined: RKM-40040,
Common, on way to KannadiSholai from Srumalai Puthur. Distribution: Luisea zeylanica Lindley Specimens Examined: RKM-40083,
40088, Rare, on way to Thumbisholai. Distribution: Papilionanthe cylindrica (Lindl.) Seidenf. Specimens Examined: RKM-40037,
Occasional, on way to Thumbisholai from Vellimalai Distribution: Tropidia angulosa (Lindley) Blume Specimens Examined: RKM-40119,
40121, Very rare, along the edges of Thumbisholai. Distribution: Vanda spathulata (L.) Sprengel Specimens Examined: RKM-40162;
Occasional, on way to Madagamalai. Distribution: Vanda tessellata (Roxb.) Hook. ex Don Specimens Examined: RKM-40012,
40020, Occasional, on way to Punsholai from Puliyampallam. Distribution: Vanda testacea (Lindley) Reichb. f. Specimens Examined: RKM-40024,
Common, on way to Vellimalai from Sirumalai Puthur. Distribution: Zeuxine longilabris (Lindley) Benth ex Hook. f. Specimens Examined: RKM-40029, Very rare, only 10 individuals are seen in Kannadisholai. Distribution: Plate 1. Orchids
of Sirumalai, Tamil
Acknowledgement The first
author is grateful to Dr. G. V. S. Murthy, Joint Director, Botanical Survey
of India, Southern Circle, Bibliography Abraham, A. and Vatsala, P. 1981. Introduction
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Tiger Reserve, Joseph, J. 1987. Orchids of Nilgiris.
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