July 2015 – Naresh Swami | The Orchids of the Sikkim Himalaya

Ponerorchis chusua (D.Don) Soó.

The Plant

Terrestrial. Whole plant 12 to 26 cm in height. Tuber two, unequal and attached to each other with a small fleshy attachment, obelliptic to obovate, 1 to 1.5 cm long and about 1 cm in width at its widest part, naked. The new and small tuber developing to a matured one for the corresponding year. Stem arising from the apex of the matured tuber, almost two-third in height of the whole plant, cylindrical, naked and minutely narrowing towards its apex, faintly ribbed. Leaves two, unequal, arranged distance apart, 2 to 5 cm long and less than 1 cm in width, oblanceolate with broader base, sessile and clasping. The lower more than twice long as the upper one. Flowers 4 to 7 in a terminal spike much narrow than the stem, not secund.

The Flower

Flowers 2 to 2.5 cm long diagonally. Sepals un-equal; dorsal smaller than the lateral, lanceolate to ovate, arching over the petals, one nerved; lateral ovate with narrowing and wavy apex, spreading, three nerved. Petals slightly longer than the dorsal sepal, ovate, arranged forward with curving and over-lapping apex, one nerved. Lip distinctly and deeply three lobed, mid and side lobes as long as the lateral sepals; mid lobe narrow and short than the side lobes, oblong; lateral diverging, obelliptic with wider apex and sickle curve inner margins, apex margin with many wide round teeth. Spur longer than the lip and the ovary, slightly curved, cylindrical with wide base and apex, tip rounded. Leaf bract of varying size, diminishing towards the apex of the plant, lanceolate, erect or horizontal, 1 to 4 cm long and less than 1 cm in width, three nerved, arising from the upper base of the ovary.

Stem pale green reticulated with pink throughout, except near to the base of the two leaves, where it is pale green. Floral spike of a darker pinkish brown shade.

Sepals and petals pinkish white turning pale pink towards its apex with many irregular darker spots and markings. Lip of a darker pinkish shade throughout with a few distinct elongated spots on its base margining the mouth of the spur, the mid lobe also got few irregular markings of the same dark shade. Spur pinkish white at its base turning pale pink to its apex. Floral bract brownish green on its upper portion and pinkish brown on its lower portion.

The Pursuit

A beautiful small plant of the Alpine slopes, spread across half the length of the globe, from the mountains Siberia to the Himalayas. During my research time I searched many books by Indian “scientists” for a good documentary evidence (photograph) of this plant in vain. However, many lengthy articles were published on this species. As there was no proper documentary evidence for reference on this species, the species found a special mention in my list for the Alpine hunt.

King and Pantling had mentioned its altitude between 10,000 and 13,000 ft and blooming period as July and August. I moved to the high alpine areas by the first week of June and was working relatively in the lower altitudes during the first month. By July, I became very much accustomed with the high alpine region and was able to cover many unexplored regions and discovered several undocumented species. But, this one remained elusive. The description of the species and an analysis of its other habitats across the globe prompted me to concentrate on wet open slopes for the species. In the alpine region, the higher we go the drier the slopes are. However, the region in mention by King and Pantling comes in the wet zone, especially in the monsoon months between June and August.

Several days went by without a trace of the species. As those days were my first visit to the alpine zone, I was travelling all over the region every day. Repeated failures to locate the species in vain prompted me to assume that the species may have gone extinct. As the area I was covered was negligible in comparison to the vast Himalayas, I was certain I would find it from another habitat. Hence, I moved to another location in pursuit of the species.

On the fifth day at my new location, during our breakfast meeting my local guide informed about an open valley surrounded by very high mountains. He also explained to me the difficult climb up an 18,450 ft high pass to reach the location. I was eager to visit the location, however the guide was very much reluctant to accompany. It took a couple of days to convince him to accompany me. Another two days also went past in organising the journey including yaks to carry tent and other necessary food items for the 6 day up and down trek and a couple of days stay in the valley. The journey was very tedious; the uphill climb was very hard. We were able to trek hardly for 4 hours a day. On the second day, we camped at the top of the pass at 18,450 ft. While pitching tent, the strong winds blew our tent downhill. We were forced to spend the remaining part of the day and night inside the erected tent, so that our weight would prevent the winds from blowing away the tent. On the third day, we descended down to the valley to a much lower altitude of around 16,750 ft, which was more than 20 to 25 sq. km. wide. Even though, the trek was tedious and hard, I found a couple of rare species during this trek.

Early next morning, I started my pursuit in this new habitat, thus becoming the first botanist to step foot there. As the valley was surrounded by high hills, there were no winds; the air was steady. Even the percentage of oxygen was high, easing our breath. The first two hours went enjoying various flora of the new “world” and documenting some other Alpine flowers. As I was surveying the banks of a narrow stream, I stumbled across a patch of this species with most of them in bloom. The plants were with unnoticeably small narrow leaves and wide pink flowers. They were all growing near to each other thus making a carpet of pale pink. The habitat was about 12 to 15 ft wide and some 20 ft in length. Even though not precise, I counted about 45 specimens in that habitat. To select a few plants to document from a beautiful set of plants was always a very difficult task. Each one seems to be better than the other.

Finally, I zeroed on seven plants for study and documentation and produced some perfect documentary evidences, probably for the first time in the history of the species from the region. We spent another six days there re-discovering another few species, thus creating history. The return journey was made very tedious with the blessings of the rain god.

Reference:

King, G. & Pantling, R. (1898). The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalayas. Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden. (Calcutta). Orchis chusua Don., Page no 303/304.

Malaxis muscifera (Lindl.) Kuntze, Revis.

The Plant

Terrestrial. Plant of varying height, 7 to 40 cm. Stem arising from the base of an ovoid pseudo-bulb of the previous year, slender, fleshy with a broad ovate long sheath at its base often overlapping with another short one half its lengths. Pseudo-bulb with many fibrous roots from its base and covered with many dried sheaths of the previous year. Stem between one-third and half the height of the whole plant. Leaves two, almost opposite in arrangement, unequal, ovate to oblong, 2 to 5 cm in length and 1 to 3 cm in width, base narrowed to a tubular petiole. Inflorescence terminal, raceme ribbed, flowers small, many, laxly arranged.

The Flower

Flowers non-resupinate. Sepals un-equal, lanceolate with broad base, dorsal pointing downwards, lateral erect and somewhat twisted to its apex. Petals as long as the sepals, much narrowed, oblong and spreading. Lip cordate with broad base, slightly longer than the sepals and petals, fleshy, basal part thickened with side lobes. Floral bract lanceolate, arising from the lower base and as long as the twisted and erect ovary.

Sepals, petals and floral bract yellowish green. Lip dark green with its pointed apex turning yellowish green.

Malaxis muscifera (Lindl.) Kuntze, Revis.

The Pursuit

A species with its presence all over the Himalayas and well-documented. I too spotted it from the compound of my place of stay in the initial days itself. However, a close study of few specimens near to my place of stay made me think about studying the species from a wide range, as many specimens had shown variations. Hence, every other day I studied several specimens I encountered.

In the mean time, I came across an article on “Resupination” in an International journal. The theory mentioned in the article made me eager to know whether any of the specimens of this species behave the same way as mentioned in the article. Even though I observed several hundred specimens in the coming days none of them showed anything related to the theory in the article.

In the third month of the Alpine flowering season, I was busy travelling up and down the hill documenting and studying many species. In between I found time to check this species also for any new theories. One afternoon, as I was walking back to my camp after long hours in the high hills, I observed few specimens of this species growing close together some 5 ft below into the valley side of my trek route. My curiosity made me think of having a close look of those specimens. The slope was almost vertical and any mistake in negotiating the way down would be a disaster. With the help of my guide I maneuvered down the vertical slope and reached the plants. All of them were in bloom. As the flowers were so tiny, it need close and sharp observation to see the differences. As I was not having a proper positioning there it was very difficult to do keen observation and document those flowers. However, I understood those tiny flowers need more keen observation as I found something unusual.

I decided to retire for the day and come back next day with adequate gear to go down the slope and make right understanding of the flowers. Next day, we took a 7-foot long bamboo ladder and a few meters of rope to the location for facilitating the descent. We hung the ladder down the slope by tying it to a nearby Rhododendron tree with ropes. I slowly went down the ladder and standing on its second last step, I studied the flowers using a magnifying glass. To my surprise I found that the flowers of those specimens were resupinate, where as in all others cases the flowers were non-resupinate. There was no limit to my joy, as the new finding is going to re-write history. Even though I was very dangerously positioned, I did all I can do to document the flowers with all its minute details.

This is possibly the only photo documentary evidence of resupinate flowers of this species, thus opening a new dimension in the study of resupination world wide.

Reference:

King, G. & Pantling, R. (1898). The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalayas. Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden. (Calcutta). Microstylis muscifera Ridley., Page no 20/21.

Dienia cylindrostachya Lindl.

The Plant

Terrestrial. Stem narrow, about 0.5 cm in diameter, 4 to 9 cm in height, arising from the base of a tuber of the previous year. Stem cylindrical along the lower portion, turning ribbed to the apex and with a long lanceolate sheath at its base. Leaf solitary, attached around one third from the base of the stem, elliptic, 3 to 6 cm long and 1.25 to 1.75 cm in width, the base narrowed to a long tubular petiole, which runs to the base of the stem. Inflorescence terminal, 5 to 11 cm long, raceme cylindrical, with many closely arranged (crowded) small flowers.

The Flower

Flowers non-resupinate. Sepals unequal, dorsal oblanceolate with broader base, undulate and pointing downwards; lateral oblanceolate to lanceolate with broad base, erect, slightly shorter than the dorsal. Petals much narrowed, oblong to linear, shorter or almost of the same length as that of the lateral sepals, diagonally spreading. Lip fleshy, orbicular in outline with a pointed erect apex, its margins thickened and with a converging narrow broad marginal structure running from its apex to the base under the column. Floral bract lanceolate, shorter or as long as the ovary, erect and arising from the lower base of the diagonally erect ovary.

Sepals, petals and the pointed apex of the lip yellowish green. Margins of the lip green turning pale towards its inside. Floral bract green at its base turning yellowish green towards its apex.

The Pursuit

One of the most difficult and rare to find ground orchid of the alpine region. During my theoretical research on this species I never encountered a photograph of the same taken from the region. As in the case of many other species, several research articles regarding this species added to the confusion and mismatches.

King and Pantling’s iconic work mentioned this species from an area of about 12,000 ft and blooming in July. Hence, I was hunting for this species above 10,000 ft from the mid of June. A whole week went by without any trace of the species. It was my first visit to the region and I was facing many hurdles in working in those dense forested areas. June is the month of heavy rains and it hindered my work every other day. However, as I was new to the region, every other day I was able to locate some amazing new finds.

On the third week of June, there was an alert from the meteorological department about heavy to very heavy thundershowers. As the entire region comes under the control of the Army the movement of any individuals other than locals needed prior permissions. The authorities will be very reluctant to allow any movement during those days. I was also asked not to make any adventurous moves. I was forced to be in my camp for two days in a row. I was well aware that many species were in bloom on those days, and I was restless to be closeted inside the camp. On the second day, it rained heavily all through the day till I went to sleep around 11 PM. Next morning by 5 AM, the skies had cleared and I was able to see the tall trees outside my room through the window. Sun rays were peeping through its shining green leaves. As I was surprised to see the change in weather I was out in the field in no time. My plan was to go uphill to the same location around 10,000 ft to continue in search of this species. As I was waiting for the Army convoy to go uphill, I got news that there will be no vehicular movement on that day too. As it was late to walk uphill, I decided to walk downhill in search of any other species. As downhill walk is relatively easy and quick, I covered around 2 km in no time. My attention went to an open green field some 50 ft down on the left side of the road. Every time I passed through that road that particular area had attracted my attention. A small concrete trek was there to facilitate domestic grazing, even though I never found any animals there. The trek disappears after around 20 to 25 m and the open slope stretches to a thick-forested area along the river.

On my way downhill I noticed many ground orchids spurting up, even though identifying them in their budding stage was very difficult. After the trek road came to a dead end, walking downhill was very hard. The previous two days of heavy shower made the slope very slippery. As I was not carrying my walking stick, I moved down with great caution.

As I was helping myself downhill with caution by holding on to small bushes, I noticed a single leaved plant with its inflorescence broken. I instantly identified the species with its leaf shape, as I had glanced the drawing of this species from the King and Pantling’s monumental work several hundred times. On close observation I found that 3 flowers were open on the broken inflorescence, which made me establish its identity with authenticity. Even after searching the areas around the plant I was not able to find the remaining broken part of the inflorescence. I was totally disappointed about the situation as well as surprised to find the plant in bloom at a much lower altitude and a month earlier than what King and Pantling’s findings. Determined to thoroughly search the area, I left my heavy baggage there to make my movement easy and searched most of that open green slope. My hard work never paved any result as I was not able to trace any other specimens. Finally, around afternoon I documented the plant with the broken inflorescence to make it an evidence of the species and walked back home disappointed.

Next day, it was sunnier than the previous day and I was on the open slope as early as the Sun rise, this time equipped with my walking stick. I walked down to the edge of the open area and was thoroughly searching each and every corner. Finally, after around 1 hour and 45 minutes of search I was able to locate two more specimens of this species, that too in full bloom. The inflorescence was in full bloom from its base to apex. It was such a wonderful sight to see a plant I was dreaming for, in front of me. The next couple of hours flew of in no time with drawings and photographing. Finally by late afternoon I started climbing up the slope for my trek back home. Interestingly on my climb back, I found one more specimen of this species in full bloom. Spent another hour with that too to make comparative notes and photographs.

This was one of the few species found growing in lower altitudes than what was described by King and Pantling. Interestingly, none of the research works which were published in the last few decades never mentioned about this altitudinal difference. Every research papers mentioned the altitudinal range of this species as 12,000 ft and it’s blooming in July, as mentioned by King and Pantling. These factual information emphasizes the importance of real field studies which is lacking among researchers.

Reference:

King, G. & Pantling, R. (1898). The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalayas. Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden. (Calcutta). Microstylis cylindrostachya Reichb., Page no 20.