Eria validissima Kraenzl., Beibl. Bot. Jahrb. Syst.

Eria validissima Kraenzl., Beibl. Bot. Jahrb. Syst. View in CoL 101: 27. 1910. FigS. 1 View Fig & 2 View Fig

Epiphytic herbs, stem stout 15–35 cm long; leaves 4–6, bases overlapping, linear, 10–40 × 2–3 cm, apex acute, unequally 2-lobed. Inflorescences 1–2, terminal, 27–45 cm long, peduncle and rachis white hairy; floral bracts yellow, deflexed, oblong, c. 2 × 1.5 mm, abaxially pubescent, apex rounded with small mucro. Flowers many, opening starting from base, c. 7 mm in diam., greenish-yellow, with dark purple marks along midrib of sepals and petals; lip greenish-yellow with dark purple blotches; pedicels yellowish-green, c. 4 mm long, densely brownishwhite hairy. Dorsal sepal ovate, c. 2.5 mm × 2 mm, apex sub-acute, concave, densely yellowish stellate hairy abaxially; lateral sepals broadly ovate, oblique, c. 3.5 × 3 mm, apex sub-acute, concave, densely yellowish stellate hairy abaxially. Petals narrowly oblong, glabrous, c. 2.5 × 1 mm, apex acute to sub-acute. Lip 3-lobed, obovate (when flattened), c. 4 × 4 mm (across side lobes); mid lobe 2 × 1 mm, apex emarginate, margins deeply erose, deflexed or not; side lobes ovate-triangular to falcate, apex rounded, c. 2.5 × 1.5 mm; base of lip with 3-lobed yellowish powdery hairy callus, with middle lobe distinctly larger, powdery hairy median keel, rounded glabrous lateral keels running from base to raised, sub-globose, yellowish powdery callus on mid-lobe (lateral keels end at base of mid-lobe). Column reddish-yellow, c. 0.7 mm long, column-foot red, pointing straight downwards, c. 2 mm long; densely yellowish hairy; abaxially; anther-cap yellow, c. 1 mm in diameter; pollinia 8. Ovary yellowish-green. Capsules not seen.

Flowering & fruiting: Flowering from May to September; fruiting not seen.

Habitat: Grow epiphytically on tree trunks or on small branches in broad-leaved forests in Vietnam. Not common.

Distribution: Vietnam, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sulawesi, Sumatra and Java.

Specimens examined: PENINSULAR MALAYSIA, Perak, Tea gardens, 1892, H. N . Ridley 2883 ( K000827341 digital image!); Lower camp Gunong, Batu Pateh , L . Jr. Wray 1173 ( K000364362 digital image!). VIETNAM, Khanh Hoa province, Hon Ba Nature Reserve, 25.06.2014, Truong Ba Vuong & Mang Van Lam BV171 ( PSU); Lam Dong province, Bao Loc district , B’La commune, 15.05.2019, Truong Ba Vuong & Truong Quang Tam BV484 ( VNM) .

Notes: Plants recorded from Vietnam differ from Thai specimens in the shape of the floral bract (oblong, apex rounded, with a small mucro in the middle vs. ovate to ovate-triangular, apex acute), broader dorsal sepals and petals ( Chantanaorrapint et al., 2020), stellate hairs on sepals ( vs. simple hairs) (Chantanaorrapint pers. comm., 2020). M. latifolia can be easily distinguished from M. oblitterata by the presence of a claw between epichile and hypochile of the latter. Its discovery in Vietnam extends its geographic range from the Malesian region to South of Thailand ( Narathiwat and Yala) and Vietnam.

All the specimens of this species housed at L (L1529972, L1529971, L1529975, L1529969, L1529968, L1529970, L1529974, L1529973 L1529976) have been wrongly determined as Trichotosia latifolia (Blume) Seidenf. (a” Eria latifolia Blume not Eria latifolia (Blume) Rchb.f. )