Habenaria bougainvilleae Renz 1987 SECTION Acuiferae
TYPE Collection Sheet by © Renz and the Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Herbarium Jany Renz Website
Common Name The Bougainville Habenaria [Part of the Solomon Islands]
Flower Size
Found in the Solomon Islands in primary rain forests at elevations of 300 to 1000 meters as a large sized, hot to warm growing terrestrial with an erect stem carrying 5 to 8, scattered in the lower half of the stem, suberect, lanceolate to oblanceolate, acute, narrowing towards the base, pale green with darker green longitudinal striped leaves that blooms in the summer on a terminal, erect, to 16" [40 cm] long, many flowered inflorescence carrying strongly fragrant flowers with lanceolate, shorter than the pedicellate ovary floral bracts.
"The taxonomic separateness of Habenaria bougainvilleae requires further study. This species and H. torricellensis share similar form of lateral sepals, but in H. bougainvilleae the upper margin of lateral sepals is minutely ciliolate (vs glabrous). Moreover, flowers of H. torricellensis are somewhat larger. H. bougainvilleae can be distinguished from H. rechingeri by the glabrous ovary (vs minutely ciliate in the latter). Among the distinguishing characters in relation to H. trichoglossa, H. rechingeri, H. torricillensis, H. retroflexa and H. cruciata, the most conspicuous are the narrower leaves, which are inserted on the lower half of the stem, but not basal, and the hardly spreading flowers giving the impression of a narrowly cylindrical inflorescence. Also the white colour of the flower among the forest Habenarias of New Guinea and the adjacent is uncommon, all other are green or dark blue-green (Renz, 1987). According to Lewis & Cribb (1991) petals of H. bougainvilleae are ovate-lanceolate whereas in other similar species they are linear." Kolanowska etal 2021
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
*Pl. Syst. Evol. 155: 326 Renz 1987
Orchids of the Solomon Islands and Bougainville Lewis & Cribb 1991;
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