taxonID	type	description	language	source
FB2687F73B36FFB9FF61FDD7FDCAFBD9.taxon	materials_examined	Type: — TAIWAN. Taichung City, Heping District, Taoshan tribal area, ca. 800 m, 15 March 2025, flowering plant, Sin-Yuan Zeng s. n. (holotype TAI 289930).	en	Zeng, Sin-Yuan, Wang, Yi-Tse, Liu, Ching-Hwang, Lee, Yung-I, Lin, Tsan-Piao (2025): A new variety and a review of Nervilia (Orchidaceae) in Taiwan. Phytotaxa 726 (1): 45-52, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.726.1.4, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.726.1.4
FB2687F73B36FFB9FF61FDD7FDCAFBD9.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis: — Nervilia taitoensis var. parviflora has similar leaf and flower morphologies to var. taitoensis, from which the new variety can be distinguished mainly by much smaller leaves and flower sizes (Fig. 2 D), no lip appendage (vs. with a lip appendage) (Fig. 2 G, H), an emarginate lip apex (vs. acute or rounded apex) (Fig. 2 F, G), and anther-cap fused with the column head (vs. anther-cap independent from column) (Fig. 2 I).	en	Zeng, Sin-Yuan, Wang, Yi-Tse, Liu, Ching-Hwang, Lee, Yung-I, Lin, Tsan-Piao (2025): A new variety and a review of Nervilia (Orchidaceae) in Taiwan. Phytotaxa 726 (1): 45-52, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.726.1.4, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.726.1.4
FB2687F73B36FFB9FF61FDD7FDCAFBD9.taxon	description	Description: — Terrestrial. Corms ovoid or nearly so, 1.2 cm wide or smaller, light-brownish, annulated. Leafy plant initiates from corm or lateral bud of basal stem of inflorescence (Fig. 1 D), growing ca. 3.5 – 5.0 cm above litter layer; stem of leafy plant very short, usually with 1 greenish internode, covered by a tubular cataphyll leaf; rhizome vertical and horizontal, with several nodes, up to 8 cm long, warty, producing 1 or more slender stolons or runners, apex of stolon producing a new corm. Leaf solitary, emerging only after anthesis, hexagonal, 2.6 – 3.0 cm long and 2.3 – 2.7 cm wide, 5 - veined, acute at apex, green or dark-green on upper surface, pale-green underneath, the cleft between adjoining basal lobes of leaf opening at a small angle; petiole light-greenish, 2 – 5 cm long. Flowering plant initiates from the lateral bud of corm; inflorescence 3.5 – 9.0 cm long; peduncle, stem, and vertical rhizome slender, whitish, with 3 or 4 internodes, each node covered by a tubular cataphyll leaf, usually the uppermost 2 internodes emerging aboveground or above litter layer. Floral bract 2.8 – 4.5 mm long, elliptic, straight, apex acute or lacerated, shorter than pedicel and ovary. Pedicel and ovary 5 – 8 mm long, greenish, with reddish-brown markings; flower and ovary forming 90 ° (horizontal position) from pedicel when blossoming and ending up in a drooping posture or 0 ° after withering. Flowers solitary, 5 – 6 mm across, usually not widely opening, resupinate; perianth 11 – 14 cm long, 3 – 4 mm wide, acute, light-brownish, with short or long reddish-brown linear markings; sepals linear, 1.1 – 1.4 cm × 1.5 – 2.3 mm, acuminate, upper sepal usually longest; petals linear, 0.9 – 1.3 cm × 1.7 mm. Lip prominent, slightly curving downwards, white with marked purple spots, 9.5 – 13.5 mm long, 2.5 – 4.0 mm wide, 3 - lobed; side lobes small, embracing column, rounded at apex; mid-lobe elliptic to oblong, 5 – 7 × 2.5 – 4.0 mm, slightly longer than ½ of lip length, apex emarginate, margins involute; central disc papillate and covered with a cluster of linear hairs flanking midrib, midrib shallowly depressed, lower side grooved (Figs. 1 I, 2 H). Column slender, arched, white, 4.0 – 4.5 mm long, not swollen in front, glabrous or slightly hairy on ventral side, rostellum absent or residual. Stigma large, oblong, flat. Anther more or less square, dorsal side fused with apex of column; pollinia yellow, 4, oblong, without viscidium. Capsule ellipsoidal, shallowly ridged, pendent, greenish, with reddish-brown speckles, 6 – 7 mm long, 3.5 – 4.0 mm in diameter. Additional specimen examined: — Taichung City, Heping District, Taoshan tribal area, ca. 800 m, 12 August 2024, vegetative plant, Hsin-Yuan Tseng & Michelle M. S. Yeh s. n. (TAI 289925).	en	Zeng, Sin-Yuan, Wang, Yi-Tse, Liu, Ching-Hwang, Lee, Yung-I, Lin, Tsan-Piao (2025): A new variety and a review of Nervilia (Orchidaceae) in Taiwan. Phytotaxa 726 (1): 45-52, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.726.1.4, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.726.1.4
FB2687F73B36FFB9FF61FDD7FDCAFBD9.taxon	etymology	Etymology: — The specific epithet “ parviflora ” refers to the small flower. Phenology: — Flowering in February – March. Fruiting in June – July. Note: — Nervilia taitoensis var. parviflora was discovered by the first author, Sin-Yuan Zeng, in the Taoshan tribal area in July 2011. S. Y. Zeng observed dwarf plants with small leaves and surmised that it was probably Nervilia taiwaniana S. S. Ying (syn. of N. taitoensis). On Feb. 21, 2022, he was able to find flowers and ensure that N. taitoensis var. parviflora and N. taiwanensis are not conspecific. A second population of the new variety was also recorded by the first author in Taichung City, Dongshi District, Daxueshan National Forest at 1300 m (south of Taoshan tribal area; the distance between these 2 locations is about 10 km). This new variety was found in a broadleaf forest in Taichung City, on the western side of the CMR, at an elevation of 800 – 1200 m. Ecologically, it occurs in the understory of mature secondary mixed broadleaf evergreen forests (mainly Fagaceae and Lauraceae) and grows in shade with scattered light on damp mountain slopes covered by a litter layer with good water retention.	en	Zeng, Sin-Yuan, Wang, Yi-Tse, Liu, Ching-Hwang, Lee, Yung-I, Lin, Tsan-Piao (2025): A new variety and a review of Nervilia (Orchidaceae) in Taiwan. Phytotaxa 726 (1): 45-52, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.726.1.4, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.726.1.4
FB2687F73B36FFB9FF61FDD7FDCAFBD9.taxon	description	FIGIUE 2. Morphological details and general habits of Nervilia taitoensis var. parviflora. A. Habitat. B. Flowering stage. Scale bar: 1 cm. C. Flowering stage. Scale bar: 5 mm. D. N. taitoensis var. taitoensis (left) and var. parviflora (right). Scale bar: 1 cm. E. Sepal (1, 3, 5) and petal (2, 4). Scale bar: 5 mm. F. Column and lip. Scale bar: 5 mm. G. Lip of var. taitoensis after being stretched out. Scale bar: 4 mm. H. Lip after being stretched out. Arrow indicates shallow groove near midrib. I. Column, view from above. Scale bar: 1 mm. J. Anther-cap and pollinia, view from below. Scale bar: 1 mm. K. Column and pollinia in flower bud, view from below. Scale bar: 1 mm. A – C, F, photos by Sin-Yuan Zeng; D, E, photos by Ching-Hwang Liu; G, photo by Tsan-Piao Lin; H – K, photos by Yi-Tse Wang. Composite image was made by Yung-I Lee. The new variety has a similar lifespan for its single flower (about 6 days) to that of var. taitoensis but differs from the latter in many aspects as listed in Table 1. An acute or rounded lip apex and conspicuous lip disc appendage are present in var. taitoensis (Fig. 2 G; Lin 2019), but an emarginate lip apex and lacking a lip appendage are characteristics of var. parviflora (Figs. 1 I, 2 H). The low rhomboid keel at the junction between the midlobe and side-lobes of var. taitoensis is unique, and the thickened keel is pubescent, lowering toward the lip base and longitudinally grooved (Fig. 2 G). Nervilia taitoensis var. parviflora can also be distinguished from var. taitoensis by its rounded side lobe (vs. acute side lobe) (Figs. 1 J, 2 G), non-dilated column head (vs. dilated column head) (Fig. 1 O), and anther-cap fused with column head (vs. anther-cap independent of column head) (Figs. 1 N, 2 I). The anther fused to the column was also observed in the second population and has never been reported in other Taiwanese Nervilia species. Autogamy is predominantly observed in this variety, as all of the flowers we dissected showed self-pollination inside the flower bud (Fig. 2 K), so that no discrete pollinia have been observed. This observation agrees with no or residual rostellum found in the column. No clear rostellum may also be true in other species of Taiwanese Nervilia (Lin 2019). Conservation status. During our fieldwork, only two populations, with about 20 individuals each, were discovered in Taichung City in the last 15 years. Plants were found growing on the forest floor and had not immediately been disturbed by human activities. The area of occupancy (AOO) are estimated to be <100 m 2. Insufficient information is available for this variety and hence, it is considered as data deficient (DD) according to guidelines for the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria (IUCN 2024).	en	Zeng, Sin-Yuan, Wang, Yi-Tse, Liu, Ching-Hwang, Lee, Yung-I, Lin, Tsan-Piao (2025): A new variety and a review of Nervilia (Orchidaceae) in Taiwan. Phytotaxa 726 (1): 45-52, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.726.1.4, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.726.1.4
