Liparis dumaguetensis Ames (1915: 80)

Liparis dumaguetensis Ames (1915: 80) View in CoL

Type: PHILIPPINES. Island of Negros, Province of Negros Oriental, Dumaguete, Cuernos Mountains , March 1908, A.D.E Elmer 9445 (lectotype AMES [ 00100824 -image seen!], designated here) . Remaining syntype: Luzon. Province of Tayabas, Lucban , May 1907, A.D.E. Elmer 7579 ( AMES [ 02094169 -image seen!]) . Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 .

Sympodial, terrestrial, herbaceous plant, up to 21 cm tall. Roots simple, numerous, radiating, extending horizontally or downward, with each root measuring between 2–3 mm in diameter. Pseudobulbs ellipsoid, 1.2–1.7 cm long, 6–8 mm in diameter, green, enclosed by white membranous sheaths. Leaves equitant, 6.5–10.0 cm long, 2–4 leaves; petiole fleshy, 1.5–2.0 cm long, 4–5 mm in diameter, slender, glabrous, purple; lamina asymmetrical, lanceolate to ovate, 5.4–8.5 cm long by 1.9–3.1 cm wide, glabrous, green, palmately veined, margin entire to repand, apex acuminate. Inflorescence racemose, upright, up to 14 cm long, with 6–12 flowers; peduncle fleshy, tubular, weakly corrugated, 5.0– 5.2 cm long, 2.8–3.0 mm in diameter, purplish green; rachis erect, tubular, corrugated 2.0– 2.1 cm long, 1.7–2 mm in diameter, glabrous, purplish green; floral bracts filiform, 3–4 mm x 2 mm, membranous. Pedicel and ovary tubular, recurved, corrugated, 1.5–2.3 cm long, 2–3 mm in diameter, glabrous, purplish green. Flowers widely opening, sepals and petals purplish green, labellum varies from green to purplish red; dorsal sepal linear to narrowly lanceolate, 11–12 mm long by 2.0– 2.2 mm wide, glabrous, margin revolute, apex obtuse, reflexed; lateral sepals linear to narrowly lanceolate, 10–11 mm long by 2–3 mm wide, glabrous, margin revolute, apex obtuse, reflexed; petals narrowly linear, antenna-shaped, 10–12 mm long by 0.8–1.0 mm wide, glabrous, margin revolute to cylindric, apex obtuse; labellum obcordate, 11–12 mm long by 9–10 mm wide, translucent yellow green (young) or purplish red (mature), furnished with yellow or dark red at base, base shallowly concave and distinctly recurved from the middle, indistinctly divided into hypochile and epichile, hypochile adaxially slightly thickened and fleshy towards the margins on each side, epichile emarginate, apical margins inconspicuously erose. Column terete, conspicuously incurved or arcuate above the middle, 0.4–0.5 cm long, 1.8–2 mm in diameter, glabrous, transitions in color from white to light yellow, arched with a wider and yellowish apex.

Distribution: Endemic to the Philippines ( Map 1 View MAP 1 ). Based on specimens and photographic images examined as well as relevant literature ( Pelser et al. 2011 onwards, Merrill 1925), Liparis dumaguetensis occurs in Aurora, Benguet, Laguna, Mountain Province, Nueva Vizcaya, Quezon, and Rizal on Luzon Island; Mindoro, Panay, Negros and Leyte Islands; Camiguin Island; and Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon and Zamboanga City on Mindanao Island.

Habitat: It was found growing in lowland to primary montane forest with a shaded, cool environment and damp soil covered with leaf litters at an elevation of up to 1,520 m asl ( Fig. 1A View FIGURE 1 ).

Phenology: Flowering and fruiting in October to December. Based on herbarium records and additional observations from Co’s Digital Flora of the Philippines ( Pelser et al. 2011 onwards), the species flowers from January to October and fruiting in December.

Provisional conservation status: The species can be found across the country with an estimated area of occupancy (AOO) of 56 km 2 and extent of occurrence of 268,519 km 2 (Bachman et al. 2011). Furthermore, the population we discovered in Mindanao were found within protected areas (Pasonanca Natural Park, Mt. Malindang Range Natural Park, Mt. Kitangland Natural Park, Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park and Mt. Timpoong). Following the Red List Criteria of the IUCN Standards and Petitions Subcommittee (2022), we proposed this species to be treated as Least Concern ‘LC’.

Specimen examined: PHILIPPINES. Southwestern Mindanao, Zamboanga Peninsula, Zamboanga City , Pasonanca Natural Park , Tabu-Tabu , elev. 1120 m, 19 October 2022, MAK Naive 169 (HNUL) ; Zamboanga City Water District Watershed , elev. 140–220 m, 15 December 2007, R. Rubite 479 (HAST121006-image seen, HAST121005- image seen, HAST120558-image seen) ; District of Zamboanga (now Zamboanga City ), Nov.–Dec. 1911, E.D. Merrill 8304 (B, BM, K) ; Zamboanga Del Sur, Dimataling, Baluno , 650 m, 14 March 1992, Reynoso et al. PPI4288 (PNH) ; Zamboanga Del Sur, Dimataling, Baluno, 650 m, 14 March 1992, Reynoso et al. PPI4292 (PNH);; Luzon Island , Province of Tayabas , Mount Banahao , May 1906, A.D.E. Elmer 7566 (AMES02094171-image seen!) ; Camiguin Island , March–April 1912, M. Ramos BS14444 (AMES02094163-image seen!) ; Island of Leyte, Jaro, Masaganap , terrestrial in forest, elev. 600 m, 9 March 1914, C.A. Wenzel 299 (AMES02094167-image seen!) ; Island of Leyte, Jaro, Masaganap , elev. 600 m, 10 March 1914, C.A. Wenzel 298 (AMES02094166-image seen!) ; Visayas, Negros Oriental, Near Lake Balinsasayao, March 1922, A.W.C.T. Herre BS41401 (AMES02094165-image seen!) ; Luzon Island, Baguio, Old Nagulian Trail , January 1937, K.B. Day PNH3464 (AMES02094168-image seen!) .

Photographic images examined: PHILIPPINES. Panay Island, Antique, Mt. Madjaas , 8 April 2012, I. Sarenas s.n. (DOL49712) ; Negros Island, Negros Occidental, La Carlota, Brgy. Araal, Sitio Guintubdan, Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park , 18 December 2017, P.B. Pelser & J.F. Barcelona s.n. (DOL142444; DOL142435; DOL142407; DOL142402; DOL142400; DOL142391; DOL107641; DOL147004; DOL142459; DOL142526; DOL142579; DOL146036; DOL146064; DOL146113; DOL146129; DOL146130; DOL142445; DOL147075) ; Camiguin Island, Camiguin Province, Mambajao, Barangay Pandan , Mt. Timpoong , elev. 1520 23 June 2019, Plants and Lichens of the Southern Philippines Survey Expidition 1 832 (DOL210538; DOL210539; DOL210540; DOL210541) ; Mindanao Island, Misamis Oriental, Gingoog City , elev. 630 m, 22 November 2023, R. Cahiles s.n. (DOL246769, DOL246773) ; Bukidnon, Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park , 8 April 2017, MAK Naive s.n. (photographic image) .

Taxonomic notes: L. dumaguetensis was originally described as L. elmeri by Ames (1912) based on Elmer’s (A.D.E. Elmer 9445) collected material from Cuernos Mountains of Dumaguete, Negros Oriental and Luzon in the Province of Tayabas, Lucban in May 1907 (A.D.E. Elmer 7579). Unfortunately, L. elmeri is an illegitimate name as it is a later homonym of L. elmeri (Ames) Schltr. (1910: 210) . In the protologue, no holotype was explicitly stated by Ames, thus, we herein choose the most complete sheet AMES00100824 as the lectotype, which was also fully examined by himself and is verified with a line drawing. The other specimen cited in the protologue collected from Luzon we found housed at AMES02094169 will remain as a syntype.

Liparis dumaguetensis Ames closely resembles both L. negrosiana Ames (1912: 1562) and L. bootanensis Griff. (1851: 278). The first notable difference is that L. dumaguetensis and L. negrosiana are both endemic to the Philippines and grow as terrestrial plants, whereas L. bootanensis is found in a wide range of locations including Bhutan, Borneo, Cambodia, China, the Himalayas, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Java, Laos, the Lesser Sunda Islands, the Malay Peninsula, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, Thailand, Tibet, and Vietnam, displaying an epiphytic or lithophytic growth habit ( Pelser et al., 2011 onwards). Although observed to grow sympatrically together on Negros Island ( Pelser et al. 2011 onwards), L. dumaguetensis is widespread across the Philippine archipelago, while L. negrosiana has so far only been found on Negros Island. Morphologically, L. dumaguetensis differs significantly in having ellipsoid pseudobulbs enclosed by white sheaths (vs pseudobulbs absent in L. negrosiana and ovoid to conical pseudobulbs in L. bootanensis ), equitant green lanceolate to ovate leaves with parallel venation (vs broadly ovate leaves with wavy edges in L. negrosiana and oblong to lanceolate leaves in L. bootanensis ), and obcordate labellum with base shallowly concave and distinctly recurved from the middle (vs fan-shaped labellum in L. negrosiana and broadly oblong labellum that bends downwards with calli in L. bootanensis ).