Robiquetia ormerodii (Orchidaceae; Epidendroideae), a new species from the islands of Visayas, Philippines

ABSTRACT

Robiquetia ormerodii (Orchidaceae; Epidendroideae; Vandeae; Aeridinae) Naive, Dalisay & Alejandro, a new endemic species from Visayas, Philippines, is herein described and illustrated. It is comparable to R. micramphora by having a yellow flower with spots, however, it differs significantly in having a labellum with oblong side lobes, strongly curved spur, column with big red margin and longer verrucose rostellum. With this discovery, the Philippines now houses a total number of 20 species of Robiquetia, of which 18 are known to be endemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Antique
• Malesian flora
• plant taxonomy
• Robiquetia
• tropical forest

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Mr Paul Ormerod for checking the earlier version of this manuscript, Mr Krizler Tanalgo for doing the distribution map and DENR Culasi branch for allowing us to conduct this study. The second author would like to thank her parents, Ms Judely Love Parenasan, Ms Ariane Joy Pablo and Mr Josue Alejo for accompanying her during the collection of the specimen.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.