Slipper Orchids of Vietnam

by Averianov, Leonid; Cribb, Phillip; Loc, Phan Ke; Hiep, Nguyen Tien

• ISBN13: 9780881925920
• ISBN10: 0881925926
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-07-01
• Publisher: Timber Pr

Summary

Vietnam has a remarkable and diverse orchid flora that is still being explored and described. The slipper orchids, a small but showy part of the flora, epitomize the exuberance of Vietnam's orchids. This book provides comprehensive accounts of the history, nomenclature, and relationships of each of the 22 slipper orchid species and natural hybrids found within the country. It provides the first detailed accounts of their habitats, biology, and ecology, and highlights the imminent threat of extinction faced by many of them. This book also surveys non-orchid flora, and it will enthrall the reader with descriptions of Vietnam and its unique environment, rich flora, and endemic plants.

Author Biography

Professor Leonid Averyanov (Komarov Institute, St Petersburg), was born in St Petersburg in 1955. He graduated from the State University there in 1977 and obtained his Ph.D. in 1983 on the floristics and phytogeography of Eurasia. He is an authority on the Vietnamese orchid flora and the author of the standard account of them. He has undertaken many expeditions, in collaboration with his co-authors, in Vietnam and has discovered many new orchids there Dr. Phillip Cribb (The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), was born in Sussex, England in 1946. He graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1968 and was awarded his Ph.D. in 1972. He specialises in the systematics of tropical orchids, and is the author of many scientific papers and books on orchids. He is a leading authority on slipper orchids and the author of monographs of the slipper orchid genera Cypripedium and Paphiopedilum Professor Phan Ke Loc (Professor of Botany, Vietnam National University (HNU) Hanoi) was born in Vinh Phuc, Hanoi in 1935. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Forestry Academy, Leningrad, now St Petersburg, in 1969. He is an acknowledged authority on the Vietnamese flora and has taken a leading role in cataloguing its extraordinary diversity. He has studied the flora of the limestone regions of the northern part of Vietnam for many years. Over the past few years he has led several government-sponsored field surveys in the region. He is the author of many scientific articles on the plants of the country Dr. Nguyen Tien Hiep (Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR), Vietnam National Centre for Natural Science and Technology (NCST) was born in Hai Dong province, Vietnam in 1947. He graduated from the University of Hanoi in 1968 and obtained his Ph.D. at the Komarov Institute in Leningrad, now St Petersburg, in 1982. He has held many senior scientific positions in Vietnam and is a leading authority on the Vietnamese Flora. He has led many botanical expeditions through-out Vietnam

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Introduction	ix
PART I. VIETNAM	1	(54)
Geography	1	(2)
Geological History	3	(2)
Geomorphology	5	(3)
Northeastern montane region	5	(1)
Northwestern montane region	6	(1)
Truong Son Range region	6	(2)
Coastal plains	8	(1)
Alluvial valleys of the Me Cong and Song Hong Rivers	8	(1)
Climate Zones	8	(7)
Monsoon tropical climate with cold winter and summer rains	9	(2)
Monsoon tropical climate with cold winter and summer-autumn rains	11	(1)
Monsoon tropical climate with warm winter and summer-autumn-winter rains	11	(2)
Monsoon tropical climate with warm winter and autumn-winter rains	13	(1)
Monsoon tropical climate with warm winter and summer rains	13	(1)
Monsoon sub-equatorial climate with summer rains	14	(1)
Monsoon tropical climate associated with mountains	14	(1)
Flora of Vietnam	15	(3)
Main patterns of vegetation	18	(37)
Evergreen broad-leaved plateau forests on alkaline soils	19	(2)
Evergreen and semi-deciduous forests of limestone mountains	21	(7)
Evergreen lowland forests on acidic substrates between sea level and 1000 m	28	(5)
Evergreen montane and highland forests on acidic substrates between 1000--3000 m	33	(8)
Semi-deciduous and deciduous dry lowland forests between sea level and 500 (700) m	41	(4)
Coastal vegetation, lowland wetlands and mangrove	45	(1)
Secondary and agricultural plant communities	45	(10)
PART II. SLIPPER ORCHIDS	55	(28)
What is a slipper orchid?	55	(1)
Origin and affinities of slipper orchids	55	(6)
Morphology	61	(4)
Life history	65	(2)
Pollination	67	(2)
Natural hybridization	69	(1)
Ecology	70	(4)
Geographical distribution	74	(5)
Infrageneric classification of Paphiopedilum	79	(4)
PART III. TAXONOMY OF VIETNAMESE SLIPPER ORCHIDS	83	(182)
History	83	(2)
The genus Paphiopedilum	85	(1)
Key to the Vietnamese species of Paphiopedilum	85	(4)
Paphiopedilum subgen. Parvisepalum	89	(56)
P. delenatii Guillaum	89	(7)
P. vietnamense Gruss & Perner	96	(8)
P. malipoense S.C.Chen & Z.H.Tsi	104	(16)
P. micranthum T.Tang & F.T.Wang	120	(11)
P. hangianum Perner & Gruss	131	(9)
P. emersonii Koop. & P.J.Cribb	140	(5)
Paphiopedilum subgen. Brachypetalum	145	(10)
P. concolor (Bateman) Pfitzer	145	(10)
Paphiopedilum subgen. Paphiopedilum	155	(98)
P. hirsutissimum (Lindl. ex Hook.) Stein	156	(14)
P. barbigerum T.Tang & F.T.Wang	170	(5)
P. tranlienianum Gruss & Perner	175	(7)
P. helenae Aver	182	(9)
P. henryanum Braem	191	(8)
P. gratrixianum (Masters) Rolfe	199	(9)
P. villosum (Lindl.) Stein	208	(10)
P. appletonianum (Gower) Rolfe	218	(12)
P. callosum (Rchb.f.) Stein	230	(6)
P. purpuratum (Lindl.) Stein	236	(8)
P. dianthum T.Tang & F.T.Wang	244	(9)
Natural interspecific Paphiopedilum hybrids reported from Vietnam	253	(12)
P. x affine De Wild	253	(1)
P. x aspersum Aver	254	(1)
P. x dalatense Aver	255	(4)
P. x herrmannii Fuchs & Reisinger	259	(6)
PART IV. CONSERVATION	265	(18)
The decline and extinction of slipper orchids in the wild	265	(9)
The future?	274	(9)
Acknowledgements	283	(2)
Literature Cited	285	(10)
Index of Scientific Names	295