''Habenaria roxburghii'', commonly known as Roxburgh's habenaria, malle leena gadda and as chekku dumpa in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

, is a species of

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 in southern India. It is a

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...

ous

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

, tall. There are two or three more or less round leaves, about long and wide lying flat on the ground. The flowers pure white are arranged in long, dense cluster up to long. 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 are broad egg-shaped, about long and the labellum has three lobes. The middle lobe is long and the side lobes are small. The species is usually found in shady places in the undergrowth of forests and is found in the

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats pass through Odisha, Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka as well as Telangana. They are eroded and cut ...

Taxonomy and naming

''Habenaria roxburghii'' was first formally described in 1976 by

Dan Henry Nicolson Dan Henry Nicolson (1933–2016) was a botanist known particularly for his work on the Araceae, and for his contributions to botanical nomenclature. He is honoured by the International Association for Plant Taxonomy with the ''Dan Nicolson Fund'' ...

and the description was published in the book "Flora of Hassan District, Karnataka, India".

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15482436 roxburghii Plants described in 1976