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Descriptions

W.D. Clayton, M. Vorontsova, K.T. Harman & H. Williamson

© Copyright The Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Capillipedium leucotrichum

HABIT Perennial; caespitose; clumped loosely. Culms erect; slender; 40–100 cm long. Culm-internodes distally pubescent. Lateral branches lacking. Leaf-sheaths obsolete on upper internodes; keeled; striately veined; glabrous on surface. Leaf-sheath oral hairs ciliate. Leaf-sheath auricles erect. Ligule a ciliolate membrane; 1 mm long. Leaf-blades 16–20 cm long; 6–7 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface hirsute. Leaf-blade margins scaberulous. Leaf-blade apex attenuate.

INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence a panicle with branches tipped by a raceme.

Panicle contracted; oblong; 5–7 cm long; 1–1.5 cm wide. Primary panicle branches appressed. Panicle branches capillary; puberulous.

Racemes bearing a triad of spikelets; 1 fertile spikelets on each.

Spikelets in threes. Fertile spikelets sessile; 1 in the cluster. Companion sterile spikelets pedicelled; 2 in the cluster. Pedicels linear; 4 mm long; with a translucent median line (also present in internodes); ciliate; with white hairs; with 1–1.5 mm long hairs.

STERILE SPIKELETS Companion sterile spikelets well-developed; male; lanceolate; dorsally compressed; 4–4.8 mm long; shorter than fertile; separately deciduous. Companion sterile spikelet glumes chartaceous; puberulous; muticous. Companion sterile spikelet lemmas 2; enclosed by glumes.

FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets linear; dorsally compressed; 5.5 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures. Spikelet callus pilose. Spikelet callus hairs white; 2 mm long.

GLUMES Glumes dissimilar; exceeding apex of florets; firmer than fertile lemma. Lower glume oblong; 1 length of spikelet; chartaceous; without keels. Lower glume surface concave; pubescent; hairy at apex. Lower glume apex acute. Upper glume lanceolate; chartaceous; 1-keeled.

FLORETS Basal sterile florets barren; without significant palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret lanceolate; hyaline. Fertile lemma linear; hyaline; without keel. Lemma apex awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn geniculate; 25 mm long overall; with twisted column. Palea absent or minute.

FLOWER Anthers 3.

DISTRIBUTION Asia-tropical: Indo-China.

NOTES Andropogoneae. Camus 2001.

Please cite this publication as detailed in How to Cite Version: 3rd February 2016.