''Eulophia andamanensis'' is an

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

found to occur among the

Andaman Andaman may refer to: * Andaman Islands * Andaman Sea * ''Andaman'' (1998 film), a Kannada-language film * ''Andaman'' (2016 film), a Tamil-language film * ''Andaman'' (2021 film), a Hindi-language film See also * Andaman and Nicobar Islands ...

and Nicobar group of Islands (off the east coast of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and also in the north-western tip of Langkawi island in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

.The occurrence of this ground orchid in Andaman Islands is restricted to some isolated pockets of certain islands and rare. Living collections of this taxon from the Andaman Islands is under ex situ conservation outside the islands at the Field Gene Bank of Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Trivandrum, India. It is a pre-tsunami accession. The genus ''

Eulophia ''Eulophia'', commonly known as corduroy orchids, is a genus of about two hundred species of flowering plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Most ''Eulophia'' orchids are terrestrial but some are deciduous while others are evergreen. They ei ...

'' belongs to the subfamily Epidendroideae, tribe

Cymbidieae The Cymbidieae is a tribe of plants within the family Orchidaceae. See also * Taxonomy of the Orchidaceae The taxonomy of the Orchidaceae (orchid family) has evolved slowly during the last 250 years, starting with Carl Linnaeus who in 1753 reco ...

, and subtribe

Eulophiinae Eulophiinae is an orchid subtribe in the tribe Cymbidieae. It comprises 270 species divided into nine genera, with the genus ''Eulophia'' comprising 60% of these species. See also * Taxonomy of the Orchidaceae The taxonomy of the Orchidaceae ...

. ''Eulophia andamanensis'' is found growing wild in the Little Andaman Islands, where the temperature ranges between 23 and 30 °C and the annual average rainfall is 3473 mm. Tropical evergreen forest floors of Andamans is the habitat of this orchid, and it is scarcely distributed. The growth habit is sympodial. The stem at the base is bulbous, with thick roots. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are short during flowering, linear lanceolate. The bracts are shorter than the

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

, the

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s 2 cm long, the lip shorter than the sepals. The sepals are linear lanceolate, 3–5 nerved, acuminate; both the sepals and petals are pale green in colour, the lip green at the base and white at the centre with maroon horizontal striations. The flowering period is from November to March, with the florets borne on long spikes (0.6–1.3 m long), and last for about 50 days.

References

External links

* * andamanensis Orchids of India Orchids of Malaysia Plants described in 1872 {{Cymbidieae-stub