Ornithochilus cacharensis

During recent fieldwork in the eastern part of the Borail Wildlife Sanctuary, in the Cachar district of Assam, H. A. Barbhuiya (Botanical Survey of India) discovered a single, mature individual of a small, monopodial orchid with bright red-purple flowers. It was described as a new species, Ornithochilus cacharensis, in a 2012 issue of Kew Bulletin, in collaboration with partners including Kew scientist Andre Schuiteman. Its specific epithet cacharensis was given in honour of the district (Cachar) where it was found.

Ornithochilus cacharensis has only been recorded in Cachar district, Assam, India.

The single recorded individual was found growing as an epiphyte on the trunk of a Duabanga grandiflora in wet evergreen lowland forest at about 130 m above sea level. It was growing in association with Piper species.

Inflorescence of Ornithochilus cacharensis (Image: H. A Barbhuiya, Botanical Survey of India)

Overview: Monopodial (growing from the same point each year) epiphyte (growing on another plant for support). Roots circular in cross-section, 2.5–3.0 mm in diameter.

Stems: Unbranched, 2.0–3.5 cm long.

Leaves: Mid-green, twisted at the base, elliptic-oblong, 19.0–21.0 × 3.0–4.3 cm, with a sheathing base, 1.0–1.2 cm long.

Flowers: Red-purple, the lip darker than sepals and petals, about 1.7 cm in diameter. Borne in inflorescences 35–38 cm long, with 1–4 branches, containing about 30–70 flowers.

Lip four-lobed, with a curved spur about 4.2 mm long situated in the middle of the lip.

Column red-purple, hairless, 6.2–6.5 mm long, with the ventral side whitish. Pollinia (distinct masses of pollen grains) yellow and four in number (in two pairs).

Fruit: Unknown.

Uniformly red-purple flowers of Ornithochilus cacharensis (Image: H. A. Barbhuiya, Botanical Survey of India)

The column of Ornithochilus cacharensis differs from that of O. difformis in being twice as long and hairless.

The margins of the lip epichile (terminal divisions of the lip) are sharply toothed, in contrast to the small, rounded teeth of O. yingjiangensis.

Ornithochilus cacharensis differs from both of these species in its uniformly red-purple flowers and the relatively longer lateral lobes of the lip hypochile (basal part of the lip).

Ornithochilus cacharensis has been assessed as Critically Endangered according to IUCN criteria. Only a single plant has been recorded, and its habitat is threatened by slash-and-burn cultivation and tree-felling.

Dried and alcohol-preserved specimens of the related species Ornithochilus difformis are held in Kew’s Herbarium. The details of some of these can be seen in Kew’s Herbarium Catalogue.

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