''Oeceoclades perrieri'' 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 native to Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar. It was first described by the German botanist Rudolf Schlechter in 1913 as ''Eulophia ambongensis''. Schlechter had also described a separate species, ''Eulophidium ambongense'' in the same 1913 work. 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 resurrected and revised the genus ''Oeceoclades'' in 1976, these two taxa caused a naming conflict, so they chose to use ''Eulophidium ambongense'' as the

basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...

for '' O. ambongensis'' and reduced ''Eulophia ambongensis'' to a synonym of ''O. perrieri'', which was based on the basionym ''Eulophidium perrieri'' that Schlechter had also described later in 1925. Both ''Eulophidium perrieri'' and ''Eulophia ambongensis'' were conspecific, belonging to the same species, so Garay and Taylor were free to use the later name as the base for their new combination when transferring taxa to ''Oeceoclades''. Garay and Taylor noted that this species is related to '' O. quadriloba'', '' O. sclerophylla'', and '' O. analavelensis'' but can be distinguished from them by its characteristic long strap-like leaves that taper to a point.Garay, L.A., and P. Taylor. 1976
The genus ''Oeceoclades'' Lindl.
''Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University'' 24(9): 249-274.

References

perrieri Orchids of Madagascar Flora of Mozambique Plants described in 1913 {{Cymbidieae-stub