''Ponerorchis physoceras'' is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
in the family
Orchidaceae
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 ...
, native to south-central China (north-west and west
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
).
[
]
Taxonomy
The species was first described in 1924 by Rudolf Schlechter, as '' Amitostigma physoceras''.[ A ]molecular phylogenetic
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
study in 2014 found that species of ''Amitostigma'', ''Neottianthe'' and ''Ponerorchis
''Ponerorchis'' is a genus of Asian terrestrial tuberous orchids (family Orchidaceae). It is native to temperate Eurasia, from Poland to Japan, to the north of the Indian subcontinent and to northern Indochina.
They can be found in evergreen for ...
'' were mixed together in a single clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
, making none of the three genera monophyletic
In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...
as then circumscribed
In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius.
Not every polyg ...
. ''Amitostigma'' and ''Neottianthe'' were subsumed into ''Ponerorchis'', with this species becoming ''Ponerorchis physoceras''.[
]
References
physoceras
''Physoceras'' is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It is native to Madagascar and Réunion; it was also formerly present in Mauritius but now apparently extinct there.Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.C. & Ras ...
Orchids of Sichuan
Plants described in 1924
{{Orchidoideae-stub