''Oeceoclades ambongensis'' is a terrestrial orchid species in the genus ''

Oeceoclades ''Oeceoclades'', collectively known as the monk orchids, is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It is related to '' Eulophia'' and like that genus is mostly terrestrial in habit. A few species extend into very arid en ...

'' that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. It was first described by the German botanist

Rudolf Schlechter Friedrich Richard Rudolf Schlechter (16 October 1872 – 16 November 1925) was a German taxonomist, botanist, and author of several works on orchids. He went on botanical expeditions in Africa, Indonesia, New Guinea, South and Central America and ...

in 1913 as ''Eulophidium ambongense''. When

Leslie Andrew Garay Leslie Andrew Garay (August 6, 1924 - August 19, 2016), born Garay László András, was an American botanist. He was the curator of the Oakes Ames Orchid Herbarium at Harvard University, where he succeeded Charles Schweinfurth in 1958. In 1957 h ...

and

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politi ...

revised the genus ''Oeceoclades'' in 1976, they transferred this species to the expanded ''Oeceoclades'' as ''O. ambongensis''. Garay and Taylor noted that this species could be distinguished from closely allied species, such as '' O. maculata'' by its larger flowers with

subglobose This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

(nearly spherical)

spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to back ...

and a bilobed callus on the labellum.Garay, L.A., and P. Taylor. 1976
The genus ''Oeceoclades'' Lindl.
''Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University'' 24(9): 249-274.

References

ambongensis Orchids of Madagascar Endemic flora of Madagascar Plants described in 1913 {{Cymbidieae-stub