Cymbidium motuoense (Orchidaceae; Epidendroideae), a new species from China: evidence from morphological and molecular data

Abstract

This study describes a new orchid species, Cymbidium motuoense, from Xizang, China based on morphological and molecular analyses. Several unique morphological features distinguish this new orchid from all other species of Cymbidium. Based on its morphology, this orchid is similar to C. tracyanum but differs in its yellow-green flower with dark purple-red spots on the veins, oblong-elliptic sepals, side lobes of the lip with reddish brown hairs along the veins and disc with three purple-red lamellae. Phylogenetic analyses based on plastid DNA (matK and rbcL) supported C. motuoense as a new species. However, the low support in nuclear ribosomal ITS tree provide the possibility that the new orchid may be a natural hybrid of C. tracyanum and C. iridioides or another closely related species.