A new species of Claderia (Orchidaceae)

Abstract

A little-studied orchid genus, Claderia Hook.f., has until now contained just one or two species, Claderia viridiflora Hook.f. and its possible synonym, C. papuana Schltr. We describe a new species from Singapore, which differs from these Claderia in having small, cream-yellow flowers that are nodding and presented in a long, unbranched terminal inflorescence, mostly with two flowers open simultaneously. We name the new species Claderia leontocampus Niissalo. Plants of the new species have been collected or recorded in Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and possibly Peninsular Thailand. We carried out population genetics analyses to show distinction between the new species and Claderia viridiflora. The two species occur in the same habitat in Singapore. We used phylogenetic analyses to find out the phylogenetic position of Claderia within Orchidaceae; the genus is here considered to belong to subfamily Epidendroideae Kostel., tribe Epidendreae Lindl., subtribe Claderiinae Szlach. We publish the plastome and ITS sequences of Claderia viridiflora. Two names are lectotypified.