Mitteilungen des
Kärntner Botanikzentrums
Klagenfurt
189
Wulfenia 22 (2015): 189 –199
Review of the genus Plocoglottis (Orchidaceae)
in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam
Maxim S. Nuraliev, Leonid V. Averyanov,
Andrey N. Kuznetsov & Svetlana P. Kuznetsova
Summary: The genus Plocoglottis is represented in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam by three species.
Plocoglottis bokorensis is known from several localities scattered within these three countries. Plocoglottis
javanica and P. quadrifolia are presently found each in two localities in Southern Vietnam, being
widely distributed in the Malesian region. The latter species is reported here for Cambodia, Laos and
Vietnam for the first time with both of its Vietnamese populations located about 1000 km away from
the nearest previously known collection. Details of distribution, illustrations and an identification
key for these species are provided.
Keywords: Plocoglottis, Indochina, flora, nature conservation, plant diversity, plant taxonomy
The genus Plocoglottis Blume (Orchidaceae) comprises 40 – 45 species distributed in Malesia,
Thailand, Eastern Indochina, Solomon and Andaman Islands as well as Peninsular Myanmar
(Seidenfaden 1972, 1986, 1992; Seidenfaden & Wood 1992; Schuiteman & De Vogel
2000; Pridgeon et al. 2005; Schuiteman et al. 2008; Chong et al. 2009; Kurzweil 2009;
Averyanov 2013a, b). The most recent accounts (Govaerts 2014; Chase et al. 2015) accept 41
species of Plocoglottis. This genus is currently placed within tribe Collabieae of subfamily
Epidendroideae (Chase et al. 2015). Most of the species of Plocoglottis occur in the Malesian
biogeographic region sensu Takhtajan (1986) (Pridgeon et al. 2005; Kurzweil 2009). In
respect to continental Asia, five species are known from Thailand and the genus is also believed
to occur in Southern Myanmar (Kurzweil 2009). In Vietnam, two species of Plocoglottis have
been reported to date, namely P. bokorensis (Gagnep.) Seidenf. and P. javanica Blume (Averyanov
2002, 2013b; Averyanov & Averyanova 2003). For both Cambodia (Seidenfaden 1992;
Schuiteman & De Vogel 2000) and Laos (Schuiteman et al. 2008; Averyanov 2013a) only
one species, P. bokorensis, is known. The diversity of Plocoglottis in Thailand fully covers that of
the other continental Asia areas.
During the past decades, the knowledge of distribution area of Plocoglottis within continental
Asia has been greatly improved. For instance, it was recently found for the first time in Northern
Thailand (Kurzweil 2009). This genus has been supposed to be absent from Vietnam and Laos
till recent years and it is not included in the appropriate regional accounts published before 2003
and 2008 respectively (Seidenfaden 1992; Pham Hoang Ho 2000; Schuiteman & De Vogel
2000; Nguyen Tien Ban et al. 2005; Newman et al. 2007).
Here we provide an account of the genus Plocoglottis in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam with a
report of one more newly discovered species of this genus in the flora of Eastern Indochina. A
population of Plocoglottis quadrifolia J.J. Sm. was found in late May 2014 in the mountains of
Southern Vietnam, in Chu Yang Sin National Park. The population consisted of more than ten
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