Bulbophyllum mascarenense Pailler and Baider sp nov.: a new endemic orchid species from the Mascarenes

ABSTRACT

Here we describe Bulbophyllum mascarenense sp. nov., a new endemic species from the Mascarenes, and assess its conservation status. This taxon has previously been confused with B. nutans var. nutans and has also been erroneously identified in the Mascarenes as B. minutum auct. non Thouars, the latter a Malagasy endemic. Bulbophyllum mascarenense is known from tropical humid native vegetation between 400 and 1200 m elevation, being abundant on the island of Réunion, but less so on Mauritius. Using the Red List Categories and Criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, this new species should be considered as “Least Concern”.

KEYWORDS:

• Bulbophyllum minutum
• Bulbophyllum nutans
• Madagascar
• Mauritius
• Orchidaceae
• Red List
• Réunion
• Thouars

Acknowledgments

We would like to dedicate this work to the late Jean Bosser, scientific director of “Flore des Mascareignes”, who has encouraged us to work in more detail on the Orchidaceae for the region and pointed out to us this new species. We also thank Murielle Simo-Droissart, Jaap Vermeulen, Timothée Le Péchon, Gunter Fisher, F. B. Vincent Florens, David L. Roberts and anonymous reviewers for suggestions that greatly improved the manuscript. Jean Maurice Tamon, Frederic Henze and François Vandeschricke provided the photos of B. mascarenense and B. nutans, and Florent Martos provided the photo of the pollinator of B. mascarenense.

Author contributions

Thierry Pailler preparation of the manuscript, revision of herbaria specimen, field work on Réunion (also Comoros and Madagascar) for material collection.

Cláudia Baider preparation of the manuscript, revision of herbaria specimen, field work in Mauritius for material collection.

Disclosure statement

No conflict of interest is reported by the authors.

Supplementary materials

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded as part of routine duties of the authors.