Cynorkis lentiginosa Hermans, Andriant. & Sieder, Kew Bull. 72(3)-38: 11 (2017).
Description:
Erect to semi-erect terrestrial or lithophytic herb, up to 19 cm tall, including the inflorescence. Tubers 1 - 2, elliptic, surface woolly; c. 20 mm long, 12 mm wide, roots white, fleshy, glabrous c. 1.8 mm in diam. Stem up to 9 cm long, 4 - 5 mm in diam., white, faintly spotted with red, basal sheath sometimes absent, up to 48 mm long, 16 mm wide, then a 3 - 4 cm bare section to a pair of sub-alternate leaves. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, the margins of the mature leaves undulate, up to 11 cm long, 3.5 cm wide, pale green flecked throughout with dark red in a longitudinal series, the margins purple-red, paler below. Inflorescence emerging from the centre of the upper leaf petiole, up to 16 cm long, 1.1 - 1.5 mm in diam., pale green, glabrous, flecked and spotted purple-red throughout but more densely towards the base, a large single lanceolate sheath c. 2 - 3 cm above the leaf, of a similar colour pattern as the leaf, enveloping the inflorescence at the base, 40 - 50 mm long, 12 - 18 mm wide; rachis 4 - 8 cm, laxly 6- to 9-flowered; floral bracts pale green spotted purple-red, amplexicaul at the base, acuminate, apiculate at the apex 8 -12 mm long, 2.5 - 3.2 mm wide; pedicel and ovary glabrous, pale green flecked with purple-red, slightly curved, 15 - 21 mm long, 1.5 - 1.9 mm wide. Flowers overall c. 25 mm long, 20 mm wide, petals and sepals pale purple becoming green towards the apex, densely spotted with dark purple-red on the exterior, lip lilac fading to white towards the base, pollinarium purplish-pink, spur greenish violet with a purple longitudinal stripe, colours fading to pale-purple to almost white with age. Dorsal sepal forming a hood with the petals, 9.8 - 10.7 mm long, 3.1 - 3.9 mm wide, deeply concave, base inflated, the apex recurved; lateral sepals spreading almost parallel with the lateral lobes of the lip, oblong-obovate curved apically 8 - 9.2 mm long, 4.1 - 4.3 mm wide. Petals appressed to the inside of the dorsal sepal margins, narrowly oblong-obovate curved apically, 6.6 - 6.9 mm long, 1.7 - 1.9 mm wide. Lip 3-lobed, overall 10.1 - 10.4 mm long, 8.3 - 8.7 mm wide, the lateral lobes subrectangular, the mid-lobe linguiform, concave with a central raised ridge; spur narrowed at the base then narrowed into a short appendix at the tip, 8.5 - 9.3 mm long, 1.5 - 1.8 mm in the middle. Column in a horizontal plane 9.7 - 9.9 mm long 5.1 - 5.6 mm wide, with two distinct rostellum arms surpassing the nose-like mid-lobe by c. 3 mm, staminodes short and rounded, anther loculi somewhat verrucose on the anterior margin, covered by the dorsal sepal and petal hood, pollinia including the thin caudicle c. 9 mm long.
Etymology:
The species name refers to the freckled appearance of the plant and flowers.
Habitat:
In full sun in water seepage areas on basement basalt rock, in crevices and shallow pockets of humus in seasonally very dry grassland, around 600 m, growing sympatrically with Cynorkis christae and Cynorkis siederi.
Notes:
The new species is characterised by the distinctive purple-red spotting on the two ovate-lanceolate leaves which have a purple margin, the spotting throughout the plant and flowers, including the sheaths, peduncle, bracts, ovary and exterior of the petals and sepals. All parts are glabrous. The three-lobed angular lip and medium-sized plant, combined with a sausage-shaped spur also set it apart from other Cynorkis. Its lip and spur shape are somewhat similar to those of Cynorkis tinnabarina (Rolfe) Hermans & Cribb (2014: 9) but it differs in having pale purple petals and sepals becoming green towards the apex and densely spotted with dark purple-red on the exterior, a lilac lip fading to white towards the base, purplish-pink pollinaria, a greenish violet spur with a purple longitudinal stripe (vs bright orange flowers in Cynorkis cinnabarina), ovate-lanceolate leaves (vs lanceolate-linear in Cynorkis cinnabarina). More or less dark spotting or flecking on leaves and flowers is not uncommon in other species of Cynorkis (as in Cynorkis gibbosa Ridl., for example) but no other species shows this characteristic throughout the plant and flower.
Cultivation:
As given for the genus.
Distribution:
So far only known from a small area in the Antsahabe area in Northern Madagascar.
References:
New species and nomenclatural changes in Cynorkis (Orchidaceae: Orchidoideae) from Madagascar and the Mascarenes, KEW BULLETIN (2017) 72: 38
