Abstract
The present investigation deals with enumeration including diversity, ecology and conservation of the family Orchidaceae of greater Sylhet region of Bangladesh. Extensive field trips were made at 11 different sites of this region during early monsoon, late monsoon and winter seasons. Relevant literature and different herbaria were consulted to gather information about the orchids of this region. Orchidaceae is represented in greater Sylhet by 75 species under 49 genera. Out of these, 25 species are terrestrial, 48 are epiphytic, one is saprohytic and one is hemiepiphytic. Presence of 37 monotypic genera indicates a narrow diversity in Orchidaceae of this area. The present investigation revealed that 26 orchid species are restricted and distributed only in Sylhet region in Bangladesh. The currently accepted taxonomic nomenclature, synonyms, habit, flowering time, present conservation status and geographical distribution are provided under each taxon.Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 23(1): 13-25, 2016 (June)
Highlights
Orchidaceae is one of the largest flowering plant families, represented by about 1000 genera and 20,000 species with cosmopolitan distribution, primarily in the tropics and rarely in arctic regions (Chowdhery, 1998)
Valuable herbarium specimens of orchids from the greater Sylhet regions, collected by many taxonomists of Bangladesh are housed at the different herbaria of Bangladesh, viz. Bangladesh National Herbarium (DACB), Dhaka University Salar Khan Herbarium (DUSH), Herbarium of Chittagong University (HCU), Herbarium of Bangladesh Forest Research Institute (HBFRI) and Herbarium of BCSIR laboratory (HBCSIR)
The floristic study of the family Orchidaceae was conducted from July 2006 to January 2010 in Lawachara National Park, Madhabkunda Eco-Park, Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI) Campus in Moulvi Bazar; Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary and Satchari National Park in Habiganj; Jaflong, Tamabil, Sripur, Jaintapur, Tilagarh forest beat in Sylhet district and Sadar of Sunamganj district
Summary
Orchidaceae is one of the largest flowering plant families, represented by about 1000 genera and 20,000 species with cosmopolitan distribution, primarily in the tropics and rarely in arctic regions (Chowdhery, 1998). A preliminary checklist of family Orchidaceae for Bangladesh was made by Huda et al (1999) with an enumeration of 160 species and 2 varieties under 63 genera for Bangladesh. Huda et al (2001) added some new records for the family of Orchidaceae from Bangladesh. The distribution of terrestrial orchids in Bangladesh was compiled as a check list mainly on the basis of previous records, literature survey and herbarium collections (Khanam et al, 2001). Moulavi Bazar, Sunamganj and Habiganj of Bangladesh for a taxonomic treatment of the family Orchidaceae
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