Gastrochilus heminii (Orchidaceae, Epidendroideae), a new species from Sichuan, China, based on molecular and morphological data

Abstract

Gastrochilus heminii (Orchidaceae), a new orchid species from Sichuan Province, Southwest China, is described and illustrated. It morphologically resembles G. affinis and G. yei, but differs markedly from the former in having a thinner and slightly rolled downwards reniform epichile and the central thickened purple-red mat with irregular folds (vs. subtriangular epichile curves upwards, with 2 thick, brown to purplish-brown median ridges from base to apex), and can be clearly distinguished from the latter by having reniform epichile with lobed apex and subconical hypochile with bilobed apex that splits into two conical protrusions (vs. semi-rounded epichile not lobed and subconical hypochile not bilobed). The results of molecular phylogenetic analysis based on nuclear ribosome internal transcribed spacer (nrITS) and four chloroplast DNA fragments (matK, psbA-trnH, psbM-trnD, and trnL-F) of 36 Gastrochilus species showed that G. heminii was closely related to G. affinis and G. distichus.