''Oeceoclades angustifolia'' 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 ...

to southwestern and northern

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

Karlheinz Senghas Karlheinz Senghas (7 April 1928 – 4 February 2004) was a German botanist and orchidologist. He was a curator, scientific director, and academic director of the University of Heidelberg's Botanical Garden from 1960 until his retirement in 1993 ...

in 1966 as ''Eulophidium angustifolium''. 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''. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

was collected by

Werner Rauh Werner Rauh (16 May 1913 in Niemegk – 7 April 2000 in Heidelberg) was an internationally renowned German biologist, botanist and author. Biography Born in the town of Niemegk near Bitterfeld, Rauh studied at Biology faculty at the University of ...

near the town of

Sakaraha Sakaraha is a town and municipality in Atsimo-Andrefana Region, south-western Madagascar. It has a population of 31,183 in 2018. Geography Sakaraha is situated along route nationale No. 7 (Tuléar- Fianarantsoa) at 134 km from Tuléar, 64& ...

and the

Fiherenana River ''Fiherenana'' is a river in the region Atsimo-Andrefana in southern Madagascar. It flows into the Indian Ocean at Tulear. Due to a local '' fady'' (taboo), pirogue A pirogue ( or ), also called a piragua or piraga, is any of various sma ...

.Garay, L.A., and P. Taylor. 1976
The genus ''Oeceoclades'' Lindl.
''Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University'' 24(9): 249-274. Garay and Taylor noted that this species is closely related to '' O. decaryana'', but ''O. angustifolia'' can be distinguished by its petiolate leaves and a labellum with different proportions.

References

angustifolia Endemic flora of Madagascar Plants described in 1966 {{Cymbidieae-stub