Gastrochilus Pechei

Why in News?

Recently, researchers recorded a new orchid plant in Vijoynagar, Arunachal Pradesh.

• The Gastrochilus pechei was known to bloom only in Myanmar.
• It was founded at an altitude of 1,200 meters in Vijoynagar, one of the country’s remotest administrative circles bordering Myanmar.
• Genus – Gastrochilus.
  • It is a small genus first recorded in 1825.
  • It is a monopodial orchid genus comprising 77 species widely distributed in tropical, subtropical, and temperate Asia.

• Gastrochilus in India – 22 species of the Gastrochilus genus had been recorded from India; of these, 15 are from Arunachal Pradesh.
• Scientific Name – Gastrochilus pechei.
• Common name – Peche's Lip Orchid.
• Family – Orchidaceae.
• Characteristics – It is a small, epiphytic orchid with a single, leathery leaf and a short stem.
• It has many leathery, flat leaves that sheathe at the base, with an unequally bilobed apex.
• The inflorescence is lateral, relatively short, sub-umbellate, and bears a few to many flowers.
• Sepals and petals are free, similar, and spreading.
• The lip features a subglobose, saccate hypochile; the epichile is fan shaped with fimbriate margins.
• The column is short and thick, 2 pollinia are subglobose.

• Habitat – It flowers in September-October and thrives in moist, evergreen rainforest on small trees near riverbanks.

References

1. The Hindu| New orchid recorded in Arunachal Pradesh.
2. Lankesteriana| Gastrochilus pechei.