February 2015 – Page 2 – Naresh Swami | The Orchids of the Sikkim Himalaya

Habenaria aitchisonii Rchb.f.

The Plant

Terrestrial. Whole plant 7 to 12 cm in height. Tubers large, ellipsoid, hairy, 1.5 to 3 cm long. Leaves two, opposite, sessile, unequal, orbicular, attached at the base of the stem, one of them noticeably larger than the other, 1.5 to 3.5 cm long and between 1.5 to 2 cm in width. . Flowers 2 to 4 in a minutely puberulous raceme, longer than the stem.

The Flower

Flower 2 cm across. Sepals unequal, dorsal ovate, acute, erect and arching over the petals to form a hood; lateral longer than the dorsal, lanceolate, margins undulate, spreading. Petals lanceolate, as long as the dorsal sepal, erect. Lip divided into three lobes; middle one shorter and boarder than the lateral ones, pointing downwards, linear with blunt apex; lateral ones almost 1.5 times longer than the middle one, diverging to its apex, with its tip curved or even coiled. Spur longer than the ovary, cylindrical with its apex curved forward, swollen and blunt. Floral bract as long and arising from the upper side of the ovary, lanceolate, minutely puberulous, its apex curved.

Flower green throughout except to the outer portion of the sepals that are of a darker shade. Floral bract pale green.

The Pursuit

A species, King and Pantling found at altitudes around 10,000 to 11,000 ft. I was hoping to find it during my alpine flower hunt days. A local from the alpine village of my base camp had identified the plant from the voluminous book of King and Pantling. He remembered the location where he had encountered the plant in the previous year. As the location was above 12,000 ft I was of the opinion that the flowers will appear only in the mid of the summer months. Every time when he insisted on a trip to the location I postponed it to tune it with the mid-summer days. By the mid of July we made a trip, sadly to see the whole habitat destroyed by a landslide. However, I was confident I might encounter this species from some other locations.

The further the Sun moves to the north pole, the more the spurting of flowers in the high mountains. According to the Sun and the flower appearing I shift my camp to the various locations in the high hills. I was camping in a valley above 13,500 ft and everyday walked another 7 to 10 km climbing up to 16,000 ft and return to the camp in the evening. As several of the species were to be observed every day, the days were hectic, each minute was so valuable and every trip was meticulously planned. During that month a local festival was being organized by the local village community in the valley. There will be no visitors from elsewhere due to the location’s high altitudinal range and the difficulty in reaching there. The only attraction was that all the villagers (less than 50 individuals) join the festivity. As I was new to that particular area and that was my first high alpine visit, I decided to attend the festival. My two assistants and I decided to go there with a single tent and a few kitchen utensils and consumable items for three days. One of my assistants stayed back to guard our main camp. We planned to pitch our tent some distance ahead of the festival site in the valley. The reason was to enable me to perform more surveys on the higher hills. However, the chosen location was deprived of any streams and we have to walk long distance to bring water for cooking. As we were only three, not much of water was needed and we decided to pitch the tent there itself. Day one went off with no find of any orchids. On the second day we all three went to the stream in the morning to freshen up. As we were returning with water, I found 7 plants of this species, it’s peculiar “opposite arrangements” of its leaves helped me to identify it. The plants were small and there were no signs of any buds. On comparison with the drawings from the monumental book of King and Pantling I ascertained it would take another 15 to 20 days for it to be in flower. We were there for the festival till its end and returned the day after. On the way back, as we were negotiating a steep descend I found several of this species in bloom next to a huge boulder. It was so surprising that the previous days find were all without even buds and the next day we were able to locate them in flowers, that too not far away from the first location. The next three hours went with all sorts of note makings, drawings, and documentation. However, back in the camp, when I transferred the photographs to my computer, I was not satisfied with the results. Hence, decided to make a trip the very next day. It took two more trips to produce a photograph of my desire. This is one of the few species which made my head spin for a perfect photograph.

Reference:

King, G. & Pantling, R. (1898). The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalayas. Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden. (Calcutta). Habenaria aitchisoni Reichb., Page no 311 – 312.

Goodyera vittata (Lindl.) Benth. ex Hook.f.

The Plant

Terrestrial. Stem decumbent, with many fibrous roots on its lower portion, upper portion erect, 4 to 9 cm in height, with many lanceolate bracts. Leaves 3 to 5, ovate to lanceolate, acute, short petioled, 1.5 to 2.5 cm long and around 1.25 cm in width. Leaves dark green with a silvery band bordering the midrib. Flower many in a peduncle.

The Flower

Flower 1 to 1.25 cm across. Sepals unequal, ovate, acute; dorsal wider than the lateral, its apex diagonally erect; lateral with diagonally spreading apex. Petals oblong to ovate, as long as the dorsal sepal, connivent with the dorsal. Lip as long as the sepals, base with an elongate sac and the apex narrow to a decurved lanceolate tip. Floral bracts longer than the erect ovary, lanceolate, arising from the lower side of the ovary.

Sepals externally are pale rose to pink flushed with green at its base and white at its apex tips. Inner side of the sepals, both sides of petals and entire lip are white. Floral bract greenish brown.

Goodyera vittata (Lindl.) Benth. ex Hook.f.

The Pursuit

A very elegant species of the Himalayas. Numerable researchers wrote various articles on this species. However, the documentary evidence they produced never matched its elegance, as all of them tried their hands only on specimens grown in nurseries. Many times, my documentary evidence on this species has proved the colour variations which occur on this plant when it is grown on artificial environments like nurseries and green houses.

My pursuit for this species from its natural habitats never yielded any result in the first few years. In the year 2012, I was involved in a trial project to test a new lighting technique I developed, along with some technicians. We were photographing the species, Spathoglottis ixioides Lindl., with the new technique. That species was specifically chosen for this testing project, particularly for its colour and shape. This week long project work was carried out in the natural habitat of the species. Most of the flowers selected were fresh blooms. The location was far inside a forested area at an altitude of around 10,000 ft. The technicians had come from the city, so they were not accustomed to trekking in the jungles. Hence, every day I was having tough time to handle one or the other faced by them. It is to be noted with great pride, that none of the group members suggested taking flowers or plants to our base camp to test the lighting techniques.

On the fifth day of our trek uphill, one of the technicians got a cut on his knee after a fall. The forest guard who was accompanying us suggested using some local herbs to protect the wound from exposure to flies. He knew the location of that herb and asked us to wait there till he returns with those medicinal leaves. As there were reports of a few bears roaming in that forest, I too accompanied him. It was just a short trek of about 15 minutes from where we were. As we were collecting the fresh leaves from the medicinal plant, I found a single specimen of this species under those plants. It was a plant of three leaves and less than 6 cm in height. Its particular characteristics on its leaves – the silver broad midrib, helped me to instantly identify the species. It was a joyous moment for both of us. We marked the place and joined the team and proceeded with the work on the other species.

I visited the location several times in the next 36 days. Each visit made me more and more anxious seeing its various stages of growth. Finally I produced this wonderful photograph on the 37^th day. After that also I went to the location around 25 days later to see them in seedpods. Later on, in the year 2014, from another location inside a protected area I found more than 40 specimens of this species. From them too I produced some amazing pictures of this elegant plant.

Reference:

King, G. &Pantling, R. (1898). The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalayas. Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden. (Calcutta). Goodyera vittata, Benth.ex Hook., Page no 280 – 281.

Goodyera fusca (Lindl.) Hook.f.

The Plant

Terrestrial. Tuber oval to ovate, compressed with 2 to 4 cylindrical long roots arising from it. Stem 7 to 10 cm in height, fleshy, glabrous with 4 to 6 leaves at its base, the upper part with many oblong bracts. Leaves ovate, acute, three veined, margins undulate, narrowed to a broad sheath, clasping, 2 to 3 cm long and 1 to 1.5 cm in width. Bracts erect, 2 cm long. Peduncle longer than the stem, pubescent. Flower many. The whole plant pale green in colour with leaves having darker shade.

The Flower

Flowers 1 cm across. Sepals’ oblong, acute; apex of the lateral sepals diagonally spreading; dorsal diagonally erect, puberulous externally. Petals linear to oblong, as long as the dorsal sepal and diagonally erect and pressing close to it. Lip as long as the sepals, lanceolate, with its apex curved down. Floral bracts 3 to 4 times longer than the ovary, lanceolate, long, diminishing in length upwards, erect, puberulous, arising from the lower side of the ovary and arching over the flower, veined.

Sepals pale green internally with its apex turning greenish white, externally they are of a slightly darker shade. Petals pale green throughout. Lip pale green but darker than the sepals and petals. Floral bract shades of green.

The Pursuit

In the epic publication of Flora of British India by Sir. J D Hooker, the author mentioned this species to an altitude between 12,000 and 14,000 ft from the region of Sikkim-Himalayas. His records of the plants from the region are to be considered the most authentic, as he had visited the region in the year 1848 and 49 which culminated in the scientific documentation of most of the flora of the Himalayas.

Even though I found this species from an altitude of 11,300 ft and documented it, I had a desire to find this species around 14,000 ft. I got the opportunity to visit higher regions of the Himalayas on various occasions and to study various habitats. This made me concentrate on an area between 13, 500 ft and 14, 000 ft for this species. The above mentioned altitudes are believed to be the upper limit of all orchid population. As we climb higher the tree line becomes shorter, paving way to shrubs. Locating plants at those heights are very easy, even though walking around those heights is very difficult due to lack of oxygen. The region is very near to the International borders with many restrictions for civilian movements. I surveyed several square kilometres between 13,500 and 14,000 ft for several days. Although I had found many species which were unrecorded till date from those altitudes, this one remained elusive. After 4 days of flower hunt, I got a golden opportunity to survey much higher regions along with a border patrol party. However, en route I found out that they move only on a designated route. That would really help me in my survey. I wanted to crisscross the area so that I can locate many plants. The Commander was kind enough to let me take crisscross ways and directed me to join the party while they return. At those heights carrying more of load was very difficult and I left unwanted camera accessories there and started surveying the area. The area was above 14, 500 ft and the floral world there is something amazing. The next two hours turned out to be my greatest ever-floral survey, documenting 56 species in less than two hours. On the edge of the valley I found a small stream running down from a hill. As always stream banks are heaven for various species, I decided to climb that hill along the stream. As the climb with my camera and accessories was very difficult, I left the camera bag there and slowly continued the climb up the hill. Half way itself I was exhausted and had a slip and fallen flat. Luckily I got hold of a few rocky surfaces and escaped being rolled down the slope. With much difficulty I stood on my knees and made myself comfortably seated. Rested there for some time to get back to normal. As I turned around, I spotted three specimen of this species almost in bloom just few feet away from me. The sight of those three plants made my adrenaline rush and I just wanted to leap towards it. But, I was so tired and exhausted I was not able to move an inch from there. I recollect, my intense curiosity made me crawl to those plants. It was one of the most joyous moments of my entire survey in that high alpine region. The fact, that I was able to find a plant species described by the greatest botanical pioneer, possibly from the same location made me so thrilled. However, I was so tired I decided to make another visit in the next few days to document it. I waited for rest of the afternoon there for the patrol party to return. The Commander on seeing my exhausted condition, directed his personnel to collect all my camera and accessories from both locations and also to carry me on a Yak back to the camp. In between on my request he checked the altitude of the area with his GPS. It was 14, 875 ft – an all time record altitude for this species.

On the third day, I went again, this time with two personnel and documented the flower in all its glory.

Reference:

King, G. &Pantling, R. (1898). The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalayas. Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden. (Calcutta). Goodyera fusca Lindl., Page no 280.