ORCHIDACEAE
Ania Lindl., Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl.: 129 (1831).
Ascotainia Ridl.
By: Bhakta B. Raskoti
Taxon Description
Terrestrial herbs. Roots arising from nodes of the pseudobulbs base. Pseudobulbs conical, noded. Leaf single, petiolate. Inflorescence lateral, from base of pseudobulb, erect, racemose, peduncle bracts tubular. Flower resupinate, spreading or semi-spreading. Sepals and petals elliptic to obovate, margin entire. Lip usually spurred, entire or 3-lobed, 3–7-keeled. Column winged; pollinia 8, in 4 pairs. Fruit ellipsoid.
Taxon Statistics
Worldwide 6 species, in East Asia, South Asia, South East Asia. One species in Nepal.
1. Ania penangiana (Hook.f.) Summerh., Bot. Mag. 161: t. 9553 (1939).
Tainia penangiana Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 5:820 (1890); Ania hookeriana (King & Pantl.) Tang & F.T.Wang ex Summerh.; Ascotainia penangiana (Hook.f.) Ridl.; Tainia hookeriana King & Pantl.
Plants ca. 33 cm tall. Pseudobulbs conical, internodes 2.5–4 × 0.5–1 cm. Leaf 1; petiole 12 cm; lamina elliptic, 30–49 × 3.5–9 cm, apex acute to acuminate. Inflorescence 32 cm; peduncle 26 cm; peduncle bracts lanceolate, 20 × 2 mm, apex acute; rachis 7 cm, laxly flowered. Floral bracts lanceolate, 6–7 × 2 mm, apex acute. Flowers sepals and petals greenish-brown to yellow, lip white to cream, purple spotted, 2 cm across. Pedicel and ovary 1–1.5 cm. Dorsal sepal elliptic, 1.5–2 × 0.2–0.5 cm, apex acute to acuminate. Lateral sepals elliptic, 1–2 × 0.2–0.5 cm, apex acute to acuminate. Petals obliquely elliptic, 1–2.5 × 0.3–0.5 cm, apex acute to acuminate. Lip elliptic to obovate, 1–1.8 × 0.5–1 cm, spurred, 3-lobed; lateral lobes obliquely triangular, weakly falcate; mid-lobe rhombic to orbicular, apex acuminate, margins entire, undulate; disk with 3–keels. Spur cylindric, 2–4 mm. Columm 0.6–1 cm. Fruit oblong, 3 × 1 cm.
Distribution: Nepal, Assam-Burma, S Asia, E Himalaya and SE Asia.
Altitudinal range: 700–1000 m.
Ecology: In Schima-Castonopsis forests.
Flowering: March. Fruiting: May.
Note: This species was first time recorded in Nepal by Bhandari et al. (2020), the deposited herbarium specimen have a fruit, without leaf and flower. Description of leaf and floral parts in this treatment is based on flora of Bhutan and China.