Peristylus caranjensis (Dalzell) Ormerod & C.S.Kumar, Harvard Pap. Bot.

Peristylus caranjensis (Dalzell) Ormerod & C.S.Kumar, Harvard Pap. Bot. View in CoL 23(2): 283. 2018.

An endemic, terrestrial orchid occurs throughout India and can be identified in the field by its broadly obovate to elliptic leaves, broad, rounded lip lobes, and linear, sub-clavate spur.

The species was overlooked for more than a century until Hooker (1890) listed it as an imperfectly known species. It might be because of the unusual character like cuneate, truncate lateral lip lobes for the genus Habenaria . It became well known as Peristylus stocksii (Hook.f.) Kraenzl. , nevertheless, recently it has been found to be conspecific with P. caranjensis and relegated to synonymy ( Ormerod & Kumar, 2018).

The sheet K000387524 has a label in Dalzell’s hand as ‘small yellow flowered Habenaria spp. undescribed, Dronagheree, July 1848, vide drawing’; the annotation ‘Concan Stocks’ seems to have been added afterwards, which was chosen as a neotype by Ormerod and Kumar (2018). However, we were not able to trace the drawing mentioned on the label.

11. Habenaria diphylla Dalzell View in CoL in Hooker’s J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 2: 262. 1850. Lectotype (designated here): INDIA , Bombay, s.d., Dalzell s.n. (K!); Residual syntypes: (K, without barcode!; GH [GH00099782 digital image!]). Fig. 5 View Fig

This terrestrial orchid is widespread in India and Southeast Asia and can be recognized in the field by its ground appressed two leaves, entire petals,

much longer lateral lobes, and a shorter mid-lobe.

Three sheets and a line drawing housed at K and GH can be referred to as Dalzell’s Habenaria diphylla ; the collection at K is yet to be digitized. One sheet has Stocks label ‘authentic specimens from Dalzell himself, Orchidae no. 8’. The other sheet has Dalzell’s label ‘ Habenaria diphylla ’, which agrees with the protologue and is selected here as the lectotype. A sheet at GH (GH00099782), distributed from K, also has Dalzell’s label as ‘ Habenaria diphylla mihi in Hook. Jour.’ perhaps a collection made after 1850.

Liparis diphyllos Nimmo (1839) has often been cited as the basionym for Habenaria diphylla Dalzell View in CoL ( Hooker, 1890; Duthie, 1906; Cooke, 1908; Jalal, 2018; Prasad et al., 2019; POWO, 2023), even though the two are obviously heterotypic taxa. The protologue of Liparis diphyllos describes the lip as large and rounded ( Graham, 1839), whereas in the protologue of Habenaria diphylla View in CoL , the lip is described as trifid and filiform lobes ( Dalzell, 1850). Liparis diphyllos is probably an earlier name for L. prazeri King & Pantl. , but the description is too short and insufficient to determine with certainty ( Santapau & Kapadia, 1966).

12. Habenaria laciniata Dalzell View in CoL , Hooker’s J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 2: 261. 1850. Neotype (designated here): Drawings from Dalzell’s collection (BM!).

Habenaria gibsonii Hook.f., Fl. Brit. View in CoL India View in CoL 5: 135. 1890, syn. nov. Lectotype (designated here): INDIA, Pune View in CoL , near Khora? Kyreshwar (perhaps Khireshwar), A. Gibson s.n. (K [K000247421!]); Residual syntype: INDIA, Pune, Khandala, A. Gibson View in CoL s.n. (K [K000247473!]).