Synopsis of Habenaria s.l. (Orchidaceae) in New Guinea and adjacent islands

Marta Kolanowska; Marta Kras; Sławomir Nowak; Dariusz L Szlachetko

doi:10.7717/peerj.12011

Synopsis of Habenaria s.l. (Orchidaceae) in New Guinea and adjacent islands

PeerJ. 2021 Sep 10:9:e12011. doi: 10.7717/peerj.12011. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Marta Kolanowska^{1

2}, Marta Kras³, Sławomir Nowak³, Dariusz L Szlachetko³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biodiversity Research, Global Change Research Institute AS CR, Brno, Czech Republic.
² Department of Geobotany and Plant Ecology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.
³ Department of Plant Taxonomy and Nature Conservation, University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.

Abstract

A taxonomic synopsis of the orchid genus Habenaria in New Guinea and adjacent islands is presented. We confirmed the occurrence of 27 Habenaria species in study area. Sixteen of these are endemic and were not so far found outside New Guinea. Morphological characteristics and illustrations of floral segments of taxa are presented. One new species of Habenaria is described. Four neotypes are selected. An updated key to species groups and species occurring in the study area is provided. The importance of diagnostic floral characters in Habenaria is discussed.

Keywords: Biodiversity; New species; Orchids; Taxonomy.

Grants and funding

This work is based on use of Large Research Infrastructure CzeCOS supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of CR within the CzeCOS program, grant number LM2018123. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.