Ed. note: all figures are credited to the first author.

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1 ****************************************************************** Eria ferruginea Lindl var. assamica (Orchidaceae): A new variety from Assam, North East India Khyanjeet Gogoi¹, Raju Das² and Rajendra Yonzone³ ¹TOSEHIM, Regional Orchid Germplasm Conservation & Propagation Centre (Assam Circle) Daisa Bordoloi Nagar, Talap, Tinsukia , Assam, India khyanjeetgogoi@gmail.com ²Nature s Foster, P. Box 41, Shastri Road, P.O. Bongaigaon, , Assam, India ³Dept. of Botany, St. Joseph's College, North Point, District Darjeeling, W. B., India ¹Author for correspondence separated into 4 genera, i.e. Eria s.s., Conchidium, Aeridostachya and Pinalia. Eria s.s. is a small genus, which comprises about 15 species, distributed from mainland Asia and the Malay Archipelago (including the Philippines and New Guinea) to Bougainville Island (Pridgeon et al 2005, Chen et al 2009). Eria ferruginea Lindl. var. assamica Gogoi, Das and Yonzone, var. nov. is allied to Eria ferruginea Lindl. (Fig: 1, 2, 3), but differs in having a branched, dense racemose inflorescence with purplish- brown colour, a smaller size of flowers with yellow with a dark reddish-brown lip structure and disc with thick, cresteddentate, yellow with two big dark purplish marked lamellae. Ed. note: all figures are credited to the first author. ABSTRACT A new variety of Eria, E. ferruginea var. assamica is described from Assam, North East India. It differs from Eria ferruginea in having branched, dense racemose inflorescence with purplish- brown colour, smaller size of flowers with yellow with dark reddish- brown lip structure and disc with thick, crested-dentate, yellow with two big dark purplish markings lamellae. Key words: Orchidaceae, Eria ferruginea, Assam, India. INTRODUCTION The genus Eria Lindl. is one of the larger polymorphic genera of the family Orchidaceae. John Lindley established this genus in 1825 in the Botanical Register. The name for the genus Eria [based on E. stellata (now E. javanica)] is derived from the Greek (erion. wool) and refers to the woolly hairs on the inflorescence and flowers. The genus houses about 404 species in the world. These are divided into 13 to 17 sections according to the nature of pseudobulbs and leaf characters (Seidenfaden, 1982; Pearce and Cribb, 2002). Eria Lindley sensu lato (Orchidaceae) comprises around 370 species, distributed from Japan, China, the Himalayas, India, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines southward through Indonesia to New Guinea. Seidenfaden (1982) found many heterogenous elements within Eria (s. l.) when studying the genus in Thailand, suggesting further classification into more genera. In fact, a more recent molecular phylogenetic analysis uncovered that Eria s.1. is polyphyletic (Pridgeon et.al 2005). The clade comprising the type species, E. javanica, i.e. Eria sensu stricto is distinct from the other clade which encompasses most sections traditionally placed in Eria s.1. and other widely accepted genera, such as Epiblastus, Mediocalcar and Trichotosia. Broadly following the treatment of Pridgeon et al (2005), Chen et al. (2009) split the genus Eria s.1. of China into several smaller genera. Herein, we adopted their classification by which the seven Taiwanese taxa of Eria s.1. were 2 Fig. 1.Eria ferruginea Lindley. Digital Photo: 25Apr-11 Fig. 2.Eria ferruginea Lindley. Digital Photo: 29Apr-11 3

2 SPECIES DESCRIPTION Eria ferruginea var. assamica Gogoi, Das and Yonzone var. nov. (Fig: 4, 5, 6, 7) Epiphytic stems up to cm long, rhizomes thick, creeping. Pseudobulb stem-like, cylindric, internodes 4-7, branched, sheathed, x cm. Leaves normally 4, arising from apex of the pseudobulb, narrowly oblong-elliptic to elliptic, acute to sub-acuminate, thickly coriaceous, petiolate, jointed, 15-22x cm; petiole grooved, cm long. Inflorescence brownish, branched, arising from base of the pseudobulb, dense racemose, many flowered, less than 3-4 flowers opening in succession at a time, peduncle tomentose, sheathed at base, cm long; sheaths lanceolate, acuminate, tomentose, 1.4-2x cm; rachis tomentose, 6-9 cm long; floral bracts brownish, lanceolate, tomentose, reflexed, acute to acuminate, x cm. Flowers across, dark reddish- brown and washed with yellow, lip yellow with dark reddish- brown; pedicle and ovary brown-tomentose, cm long. Sepals ovate- lanceolate, tomentose; dorsal sepal 1.5x cm, oblong, obtuse; lateral sepals x cm, ovate, sub-acute, reflex outwards, connate at base. Petals yellow with intra-marginal bands of red-brown, reflex outwards, obovate, obtuse to subacute, not spreading, inwardly curved towards the column, x cm; lip 3-lobed, clawed, saccate- excavate at base, 0.8-1x cm; lateral lobes short, sub-quadrate, retuse; mid-lobe transversely elliptic-oblong, broadly 2- lobed, tip reflex outwards; disc with thick, crested-dentate lamellae, converging from the lateral lobes. Lamellae 3 lobed, yellow with two big dark purplish markings at the basal lobe. Column broad, cm long, white with reddish- purple markings. Fruits cm long, purple, tomentose. Flowering: April- June. Habitat: Epiphyte in dense humid evergreen forest. Distribution: Assam (Dowarmara Reserve Forest), India. Altitude: 118m msl. Occurrence: Rare. Type: India, Assam, Tinsukia district, Dowarmara Reserve Forest, 118m, 0046, dated Khyanjeet Gogoi, Raju Das and Rajendra Yonzone, (2010); (Holo 0046 A, CAL; Iso 0046 B, NBU; Iso 0046 C, TOSEHIM). Etymology: The specific epithet is named after Assam, the state from where it was collected. 4 5

3 Distinguishing Characters of the Two Taxa (Table 1) Character Eria ferruginea Lindl. Eria ferruginea Lindl. var. assamica Gogoi, Das and Yonzone Stem cm long, rhizomes thick, creeping cm long, rhizomes thick, creeping. Pseudobulb Stem-like, cylindric, Internodes 4-5, branched, sheathed, x cm. Stem-like, cylindric, internodes 4-7, branched, sheathed, x cm. Leaf 2-4, 12-22x cm. Normally 4, 15-22x cm. Petiole groved, cm long. groved, cm long. Inflorescence Laxly racemose, laxly many flowered, more than 4-5 flowers opening in succession at a time, peduncle tomentose, cm long. Branched, dense racemose, many flowered, less than 3-4 flowers opening in succession at a time, tomentose, cm long. Digital Photo: 24Apr-13 Fig. 4.Eria ferruginea Lindleyi. Var. assamica. Bract Flower Yellowish green, tomentose, lanceolate, reflexed, 1.5-2x cm cm across, yellowish-green to whitish, washed with purple-pink, lip white with red-purple spotting. Brownish, lanceolate, tomentose, reflexed, acute to acuminate, 2.2-3x cm cm across, dark reddishbrown and washed with yellow, lip yellow with dark reddish- brown. Dorsal sepal White with red- brown markings, x cm, oblong, obtuse. Yellow with red- brown markings, 1.5x cm, oblong, obtuse. Lateral sepal x cm, ovate, subacute, connate at base x cm, ovate, sub-acute, connate at base. Petal White with two red-brown markings at the tip, obovate, obtuse to subacute, x cm, outwardly curved towards the column. Yellow with intra-marginal bands of red-brown, reflex outwards, obovate, obtuse to sub-acute, not spreading, inwardly curved towards the column, x cm. Lip White with red-purple spots, 3- lobed, lateral lobes short, round to sub-quadrate, retuse; mid-lobe transversely elliptic-oblong, broadly 2- lobed, tip reflex outwards; disc with thick, crested-dentate lamellae, converging from the lateral lobes. Yellow with dark reddish- brown, 3- lobed, lateral lobes short, subquadrate, retuse, mid-lobe transversely elliptic-oblong, broadly 2- lobed, tip reflex outwards; disc with thick, crested-dentate lamellae, converging from the lateral lobes. Digital Photo: 02May-13 Fig. 5.Eria ferruginea Lindleyi. Var. assamica. Lamellae Pink purple, base divided into two parts. Yellow with two big dark purplish markings at the basal lobe. 6 7

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5 Acknowledgements The authors thank Dr. Ritesh Kumar Choudhary, International Biological Material Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology, Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu Daejeon, South Korea for his useful information and comments during the revision of this paper. References Chen X., Liu Z., Zhu G., Lang K., Ji Z., Luo Y., Jin X., Cribb P. J., Wood J. J., Gale S. W., Ormerod P., Vermeulen J. J., Wood H. P., Clayton D. & Bell A Orchidaceae, in Wu Z., Raven P. H. & Hong D. (eds), Flora of China, vol. 25. Science Press, Beijing; Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, USA. Hooker, J. D. (1890). Orchidaceae. In: Flora of British India. L.Reeve and Co., Ashford, Kent. V: & VI: King G. & Pantling R. (1898). The orchids of the Sikkim Himalayas. Annals of the Royal Botanical Garden Calcutta 8: Lindley, J. ( ). The genera and species of Orchidaceous plants. London. Lindley, J. ( ). Folia Orchidacea An enumeration of the known species of Orchids. London. Misra, S. (2007). Orchids of India. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun, India. Pearce, N.R. & Cribb, P.J. (2002). Orchids of Bhutan: Flora of Bhutan. Vol. 3, No. 3. Royal Botanical Garden, Edinburg. Pradhan, U.C. (1979). Indian Orchids Guide to Identificationand Culture. Thomson Prass, Faridabad, India. Vol- II. Pradhan, U.C.(1976).Indian Orchids Guide to Identificationand Culture. Bharat Lithographing Co.Calcutta, India. Vol- 1. Pridgeon, A.M.; Chase, M.W.; Cribb, P.J. & Rasmussen, F.N. (2005). Genera Orchidacearum Vol. 4, Epidendroideae (Part 1). Oxford University Press, United Kingdom. Seidenfaden, G. (1962). The Orchids of Thailand X, Trichotosia Bl. and Eria Lindl.Opera Bot. 62: ****************************************************************** 10 11