Thanks again Dr Kumar for additional information.
I consider it most useful to begin including ecological information as to the
habitats of species in florasincluding associated species (provided these have
been correctly identified). I have minimal knowledgeof orchids - Orchidaceae
really is JUST ANOTHER plant family to me, so am not referring to an example
from this family but I have noticed a habit of listing companion species for a
plant which occurs the fulllength of the Himalaya from say the Eastern
Himalaya, thinking this applies in the West as well, when thecompanion species
found in the East may not grow..... One has to be cautious about
extrapolating especiallyfrom very few examples. It may be that the examples
seen are atypical.
But should be encouraged. Checklists and floras that have almost exclusively
taxonomic and nomenclaturalinformation can be of LIMITED USE to most people.
In the UK, we divided the country up into Counties. The most recent 'Flora of
Berkshire' e.g. was compiledby a plant ecologist (immensely knowledgeable)
which contains a wealth of associated information includingentomological as to
which species of plants are food plants or pollinated by certain insects etc.
To me this BRINGS the flora alive. As you know better than I, orchids often
exist very much "in association"(as do all plants to a lesser or greater
extent) with other plants and MICROORGANISMS.
Bistorta affinis is an abundant plant in many places in the mountains incl. on
Aphawat in Kashmir. Danthoniacachemyriana was found to be common in rock
crevices in Kashmir by Stewart@ 2600-4000m.
IF species belonging to other genera or families can be recognised in the field
they can help "track down" colonies of a species especially those less
conspicuous when not in flower - which is the case for manyterrestrial orchids.
No doubt in the Himalaya as for the UK colonies fluctuate from year-to-year.
I AM SURE YOU WOULD ENDORSE THE WARNING ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHING TERRESTRAL
ORCHIDS(we don't have epiphytic ones in the UK). CARE MUST BE TAKEN NOT TO
DAMAGE/TREAD ON/SQUASHNON-FLOWERING, YOUNGER SPECIMENS GROWING NEAR TO THE
SPECIMEN IN FLOWER ONE MAYWISH TO PHOTOGRAPH.
Yes, we must always be BRACING ourselves for taxonomic and nomenclatural
changes - anddifferences of interpretation/opinion....
I must comment that ALL we can say, with all due respect, at this stage,
because the Himalaya is so vast and so little explored, is that a particular
species has been RARELY observed. IT MIGHT indeed be genuinely RARE and
PROBABLY is, for Androcorys pugionformis but some species of all sorts of
genera and families are often over-looked. This species certainly cannot be
describedas common, locally or otherwise.
Even in the UK which is smaller and has had literally thousands of botanists
exploring for centuries, we do not fullyknow the distribution well of all
species.
After all, I spotted what seems to be Herminium monorchis at the edge of
Khelanmarg on a single, brief visit, yet this species wasnot mentioned in
'Plants of Gulmarg' (1984) so had not been observed by local botanists for
decades and this is a highly accessiblelocation, visited by many. There are
lots of parts of Kashmir seldom visited by botanists. To be fair, I could
return to the same spotand not find 'Musk Orchid' in flower or indeed any
evidence of above-ground foliage.
I have only seen a few species of orchid in the UK despite having been an
active field botanist in the early 1980s. Unless one visits suitable habitat
one RARELY comes across them - SOME species are RARE but not all of them by any
means. This year I photographed (for the first time) Dactylorhiza fuchsia
after being shown a colony at the non-flowering stage. This orchid is LOCALLY
common on chalk. It is not found anywhere near to where I live and normally
walk. See:https://sites.google.com/a/shpa.org.uk/main/uk-travel-blog-2015-16
Best Wishes,
Chris Chadwell
81 Parlaunt Road
SLOUGH
SL3 8BE
UK
www.shpa.org.uk
From: Pankaj Kumar <[email protected]>
To: J.M. Garg <[email protected]>; C CHADWELL
<[email protected]>; efloraofindia
<[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, 20 December 2016, 4:54
Subject: Re: [efloraofindia:259591] Re: Is this Herminium monorchis 'Musk
Orchid' photographed on Khelanmarg?
Andocorys pugionformis has been reported from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttarakhand (Garhwal), Nepal, India (Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh),
Bhutan, Tibet and China.from elevation above 3000m (to be precise from 2700 -
5000 m). There had been recent records from Nepal and Uttarakhand (around
2004)Just for information, there is a group in China who are revising the genus
and hence be ready for some major changes again. I assume they will put
everything back into Herminium along with some Platanthera too.Habitat (copied
from J.S.Jalal D.Sc thesis (2011): Occurs in alpine meadows between 3600 and
4000m and prefers to grow in exposed meadows with 2-3 individuals together with
association of Danthonia cachemyriana Jaub. & Spach, Bistorata affinis (D.Don)
Greene, grasses, ferns and other alpine herbs. This is a very rare species in
the west Himalaya and due to grazing pressures and other biotic activities in
its natural habitat; this species seems to be onthe verge of extinction.
On Tue, Dec 20, 2016 at 10:13 AM, J.M. Garg <[email protected]> wrote:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "chrischadwell261@btinternet. com" <chrischadwell261@btinternet. com>
Date: 20 Dec 2016 6:44 a.m.
Subject: [efloraofindia:259591] Re: Is this Herminium monorchis 'Musk Orchid'
photographed on Khelanmarg?
To: "efloraofindia" <indiantreepix@googlegroups. com>
Cc: <chrischadwell261@btinternet. com>
Thanks Dr Kumar.
Can you tell us of any recent records of Androcorys pugionformis (Lindl. ex
Hook.f.) K.Y.Lang in Kashmir or indeed along the Himalaya as a whole?
On Sunday, December 18, 2016 at 5:08:59 AM UTC, JM Garg wrote:
Thanks, Chadwell ji.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: C CHADWELL <[email protected]>
Date: 18 December 2016 at 03:40
Subject: Is this Herminium monorchis 'Musk Orchid' photographed on Khelanmarg?
To: "J.M. Garg" <[email protected]>
I began by thinking that it would be worthwhile to have images of Herminium
monorchistaken in the NW Himalaya to add to those posted from Uttarakhand and
that this post wouldbe quick and straightforward, however, it has not worked
out that way but always usefulto check things - even though rather
time-consuming. It is all-too-easy to casually assumea plant belongs to a
well-known species without ever examining it closely, so you can beaware of
similar ones or spot differences/misidentifications of that species.
I have e.g. never looked at Herminium monorchis with a hand-lens @ x10 or x20
magnification.
I must admit that after ALWAYS wearing and regularly using a hand lens in the
UK and on myearly expeditions to the Himalaya, I used one less and less - in
part because seldom is such detailavailable/used in local floras.
I photographed on my most recent visit to Kashmir an orchid at the edge of
Khelanmarg, which Itook to be Herminium monorchis.
See images 1-5 below.
Not being an orchid specialist, I have never taken much notice of them, unlike
some who make a special effort to track down every member of Orchidaceae they
can.
Having complex flowers, those with smaller-sized flowers require
close-inspection.
I first came across this orchid beside the Sind River at Sonamarg during the
Kashmir Botanical Expeditionof 1983. It was also found along irrigation
channels of cultivated fields in Miyah Nullah whilst leading botanical tours in
Lahoul in the mid-1980s.
Flowers of the Himalaya record it in forests and marshy ground in drier areas @
3000-4300m from Pakistanto Central Nepal, Tibet, China, N.Asia, Europe.
Stewart recorded it from N.Pakistan incl. Baltistan and Ladakh @ 2400-4200m.
However, 'Plants of Gulmarg' by Naqshi, Singh & Koul (1984) do not record
Herminium monorchis but dolist Herminium pugioniforme on the basis of a 19th
Century record by Aitchison - as does Stewart, who foundit near Mt. Kolahoi in
the Upper Lidder Valley. None of the other orchids they list seem likely.
So, had I mistaken what I though was H.monorchis for H.pugionforme, which I had
never heard of, orthe Musk Orchid had been missed on Khelanmarg?
It seems that H.pugioniforme is now Androcorys pugionformis (Lindl. ex Hook.f.)
K.Y.Lang, see:
http://apps.kew.org/herbcat/ge tImage.do?imageBarcode=K000387 532 - it is
impossible to say much on thelow resolution image of this pressed specimen at
Kew (at least to my eye, unfamiliar with orchids).
However, there are a number of close-up images:
https://www.google.co.uk/searc h?q=%22Androcorys+pugioniformi
s%22&tbm=isch&gws_rd=ssl#gws_r d=ssl&imgrc=JkmWSuh6HdVErM%3A.
My initial impressions are that Herminium monorchis seems more likely but I
would welcome the thoughts of others?
Best Wishes,
Chris Chadwell
81 Parlaunt Road
SLOUGH
SL3 8BEs
UK
www.shpa.org.uk
--
With regards,
J.M.Garg'Creating awareness of IndianFlora & Fauna'Winner of Wipro-NFS Sparrow
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Pankaj Kumar, Ph.D.
IUCN-SSC Orchid Specialist Group Asia
Office:
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