Phaius Sinensis

''Phaius tankervilleae'', commonly known as the greater swamp-orchid, swamp lily, swamp orchid, nun's-hood orchid, nun's orchid, veiled orchid, Lady Tankerville's swamp orchid or 鹤顶兰 (he ding lan), is a species of orchid native to areas from Asia to islands in the Pacific Ocean. It has large, pleated leaves and tall flowering stems bearing up to twenty five white, brown, mauve and yellow flowers. It was named for Lady Tankerville who was the first person to make the orchid flower successfully in England. It was the first tropical orchid to flower in England.

Description

''Phaius tankervilleae'' is an evergreen, terrestrial herb that has cone shaped or more or less spherical pseudobulbs mostly long and wide. Between two and eight pleated linear to lance-shaped leaves long and wide develop from the pseudobulb. Between ten and twenty five resupinate flowers wide are borne on a flowering stem tall. The flowers are whitish on the outside and reddish brown inside. The sepals and petals are oblong to lance-shaped, long and wide. The labellum is pink or reddish with a white tip and white stripes inside, long and wide with three lobes. The middle lobe is more or less tube-shaped and the side lobes have wavy or crinkled edges. There is a whitish yellow spur long near the base of the labellum and a narrow raised callus in its centre. Flowering occurs from September to November in Australia and from March to June in Asia.

Taxonomy and naming

In 1778, John Fothergill sent specimens of this orchid back from China to England and in 1788, after one had flowered, Joseph Banks formally described the species, giving it the name ''Limodorum tankervilleae''. In 1859, Carl Ludwig Blume changed the name to ''Phaius tankervilleae''. The specific epithet (''tankervilleae'') honours Lady Emma Tankerville, as the orchid had flowered in her greenhouse at Walton-on-Thames near London.Gifts from the Gardens of China
By Jane Kilpatrick, , accessed 10 June 2008 It was the first tropical orchid to flower in England.

Other spellings of the specific epithet are sometimes used. When Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle published his book ''Sertum Anglicum'' and cited Joseph Banks' name for this species, he Latinised it to ''Limodorum tancarvilleae''. As a result, some authorities, including the Australian Plant Census, list the species as ''Phaius tancervilleae''. The spellings ''P. tankervilliae'' and ''P. tankarvilliae'' have also been used.

In 2017, Judi Stone and Phillip James Cribb published a monograph entitled ''Lady Tankerville's Legacy - A Historical and Monographic Review of Phaius and Gastrorchis'', in which they described six varieties of ''Phaius tankervilleae'':
* ''Phaius tankervilleae'' var. ''antoninae'' ( P.Balzer) J.V.Stone & P.J.Cribb (2017)
* ''Phaius tankervilleae'' var. ''australis'' (F.Muell.) J.V.Stone & P.J.Cribb (2017)
* ''Phaius tankervilleae'' var. ''baolocensis'' ( Duy, Tao Chen & D.X.Zhang) J.V.Stone & P.J.Cribb (2017)
* ''Phaius tankervilleae'' var. ''bernaysii'' (F.Muell. ex Rchb.f.) J.V.Stone & P.J.Cribb (2017)
* ''Phaius tankervilleae'' var. ''devogelii'' J.V.Stone & P.J.Cribb (2017)
* ''Phaius tankervilleae'' var. ''tankervilleae''

Distribution and habitat

''Phaius tankervilleae'' grows in swampy forest or grassland. It is found in the Indian Subcontinent, New Guinea, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia and certain islands of the Pacific. It is also naturalised in Hawaii, Panama, the West Indies and Florida.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, ''Phaius tankervilleae'' (Banks) Blume
/ref>

In Australia it is found as ''P. tankervilleae'' var. ''australis'' as far south as Yamba, New South Wales. and further north in tropical Queensland. While rare in parts of its native habitat, it is present in other parts of the world as a naturalised species, including HawaiiUSFWS
''Cyanea remyi'' Five-year Review''.
August 2010. pg 4. and Florida.Liu, H. and R. Pemberton. (2010)
Pollination of an invasive orchid, ''Cyrtopodium polyphyllum'' (Orchidaceae), by and invasive oil-collecting bee, ''Centris nitida'', in southern Florida.
''Botany'' 88 290-95.

Conservation status

''Phaius tankervilleae'' var. ''australis'', as ''Phaius australis'', is listed as endangered with possible extinction within the country. It is threatened by trampling by stock, and by illegal collecting, weeds and drainage of its habitat.

Use in horticulture

Identification of the genus ''Phaius'' is a particularly challenging and difficult task. Many plants are incorrectly labeled in nurseries or misidentified by professionals and authors. An easily grown plant in cultivation. It prefers semi shade. Propagation is achieved from seed or by the cutting of the base clump of the plant. The large flowers occur in spring. Also, flower stem node propagation brings success. Where after flowering, the scape is either laid whole or in sections on a medium such as '' Sphagnum'' moss or stood in a container of water. Plantlets emerge from the nodes, and when large enough are removed and potted up.

Gallery

File:Phaius tankervilleae (as Bletia tankervilleae) - Curtis' 44 pl. 1924 (1817).jpg, Illustration from Curtis Botanical Magazine, 1924
File:Orchidaceae - Phaius tancarvilleae.JPG, Inflorescence of ''Phaius tankervilleae''
File:Orchidaceae - Phaius tancarvilleae-1.JPG, Flowers of ''Phaius tankervilleae''
File:Phaius tancarvilleae1.jpg, Flowers of ''Phaius tankervilleae''
File:Phaius tancarvilleae2.jpg, Flowers of ''Phaius tankervilleae''

References

External links

*

Flora 33 - Phaius Tankervilleae (Phaius tancarvilleae)



{{Taxonbar, from1=Q3011916, from2=Q21310096, from3=Q24853016

Phaius, tankervilleae
Orchids of Asia
Orchids of Oceania
Orchids of Malaya
Orchids of China
Orchids of India
Orchids of Indonesia
Orchids of Malaysia
Orchids of New South Wales
Orchids of Queensland
Orchids of New Guinea