Gastrodia foetida Koidzumi (1940: 71) emend. Suetsugu

Suetsugu, Kenji, Aoki, Rin & Kaneko, Shingo, 2023, Resurrection and emended description of Gastrodia foetida (Orchidaceae), Phytotaxa 583 (3), pp. 251-259 : 255-256

Gastrodia foetida Koidzumi (1940: 71) emend. Suetsugu ( Fig. 1A , 2A–B , 3A–D , 6 )

Type:— JAPAN. Ryukyu Islands— Okinawa Pref.: Iriomote Island, Urata , 25 February 1940, S. Tawada s.n. (holotype: KYO!) .

Terrestrial,mycoheterotrophic herbs.Roots slender,often produced from the junction between rhizome and inflorescence after the flowering season. Rhizome tuberous, fusiform or cylindrical, 2–8 cm long, 3–11 mm in diameter, yellowish brown, covered with numerous scales and unicellular hairs similar to roots. Stem leafless, erect, pale brown, 5–18 cm long, 1.5–3.5 mm in diameter, 3–4 nodes, with tubular sheaths. Bracts ovate, up to 5 mm long, 4 mm wide. Pedicel and ovary 1.0– 1.5 cm long. Flowers 1–5, tubular, slightly nodding, resupinate, 16–22 mm long, 9–12 mm in diameter. Sepals and petals united, forming a five-lobed perianth tube. Sepals subsimilar, 16–22 mm long, connate to ca. 3/4 of their length with petals, lateral sepals connate ca. 2/3 of their length with each other, outer surface pale brown with numerous inconspicuous white warty spots, margin entire or slightly undulate; free portion of dorsal sepal ovatetriangular, obtuse at apex, 3.5–5.5 × 4.5–6.1 mm; free portions of lateral sepals triangular, usually not spreading, obtuse at apex, 4.5–5.7 × 5.9–7.3 mm. Free portions of petals ovate or elliptic, 2.5–3.3 × 1.9–2.5 mm. Lip adnate to column foot, 7.9–9.5 mm × 4.7–5.4 mm; hypochile with 2 well-developed globose calli; epichile pale yellowish white, ovate-orbicular, base contracted, disc with 4–6-ridges, the central two ridges extending to the wide-triangular to ligulate reddish apex. Column straight, semi-cylindrical, 7.5–8.8 × 2.9–3.6 mm at the widest part and 2.1–2.5 mm wide at base; column foot well developed; lateral column wings (stelidia) distinct, narrow, the edges parallel to column, dilated toward a little below the middle of column, apex acute, slightly exceeding anther cap; rostellum well developed; stigma located at base. Anther hemiellipsoid, 1.3–1.5 mm in diameter, pollinia 2. Capsule cylindrical, 2.6–3.5 cm long, pedicel elongating to more than 30 cm long in fruit.

Additional specimens examined:— JAPAN. Ryukyu Islands— Okinawa Pref.: Iriomote Island , 18 March 1968, Yamazaki et al. s.n. ( TI!) ; loc. cit., 13 March 1987, Yahara et al. 873017 ( TI!) ; Iriomote Island, Otomi-rindo , 25 February 2020, Suetsugu et al. KS679 ( TNS!, spirit collection) ; Ishigaki Island, Mt. Omotodake , 13 May 1971, Kunio Nakajima 47822 ( KAG!) ; loc. cit., 29 February 2020, Hiroshi Kazui KS 688 ( TNS!, spirit collection) ; loc. cit., 6 March 2021, Hiroshi Kazui KS 829 ( TNS!, spirit collection) . Kagoshima Pref.: Yakushima Island, Anbo , 10 April 2015, Kenji Suetsugu ANB-Gnipp-01 ( TNS!, spirit collection) ; Yakushima Island, Anbo, along the Hanaage River , 10 April 2018, Kenji Suetsugu HNA-Gnipp-01 ( KYO!) , loc. cit., 6 April 2022, Hiroaki Yamashita Ga 27 ( KYO!) ; Yakushima Island, Tashirokaigan , 10 April 2018, Kenji Suetsugu TSR-Gnipp-01 ( TNS!, spirit collection) . Kyushu— Nagasaki Pref.: Goto City, Kishikumachi, Nakadake , Nanatsudake , 9 May 2018, Koichi Ueda NND-Gnipp-01 ( KYO!) ; Goto City, Kishikumachi, Nakadake , Happongiyama , 9 May 2018, Koichi Ueda HPG-Gnipp-01 ( KYO!) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Holotype of Gastrodia foetida (A) and G. nipponica (B). Scale bars: 50 mm.

FIGURE 2. Gastrodia foetida and G. nipponica in the vicinity of each type locality. (A, C) Habit of G. foetida and G. nipponica, respectively. (B, D) Close-up of flower of G. foetida and G. nipponica, respectively. Arrows indicate conspicuous petals of G. nipponica. Scale bars: 10 mm.

FIGURE 3. Column morphology of Gastrodia foetida (A–D) and G. nipponica (E–H). Left: dorsal view, right: ventral view. In (B) and (C), the anther cap and pollinia have been removed, while in (E), the anther cap has been removed. In all other cases, both the anther cap and pollinia remain present. Specimen ID: Suetsugu et al. KS679 (A), Kenji Suetsugu HNA-Gnipp-01 (B), Koichi Ueda NND-Gnipp-01 (C–D), Tetsuro Ikeda Ga12 (E), Minoru Mizobuchi Ga8 (F), Minoru Mizobuchi Ga9 (G) and Masayuki Sato Ga14 (H). Scale bars: 5 mm.

FIGURE 6. Gastrodia foetida (Suetsugu et al. KS679, TNS) collected around its type locality. (A) Plant. (B) Flower, front view. (C) Flower, lateral view. (D) Flower, dorsal view. (E) Flower, ventral view. (F) Flattened perianth tube and lip. (G) lip. (H) Column (left: dorsal view, right: ventral view). Scale bars: 10 mm (A–F) and 5 mm (G–H).