''Nervilia concolor'', commonly known as tall shield orchid, and to as ''Nervilia aragoana'' in Australia, is a small terrestrial orchid found in South Asia and Southeast Asia and in the northern regions of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It has pale green, short-lived flowers with a cream-colored or yellowish labellum and a more or less circular leaf that emerges at the base of the flowering stem after flowering. LR055 72dpi Nervilia aragoana

Description

''Nervilia concolor'' is a

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on o ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

sympodial In botany, sympodial growth is a bifurcating branching pattern where one branch develops more strongly than the other, resulting in the stronger branches forming the primary shoot and the weaker branches appearing laterally. A sympodium, als ...

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

which grows in colonies with only a few individuals producing flowers in any one year. Between two and six pale green flowers long and wide are borne on an erect flowering stem tall. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s are long and about wide and the

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s are similar but slightly shorter. The labellum has three lobes and is cream-coloured or yellowish with hairy purple or green veins. The side lobes curl inwards and the middle lobe has wavy edges and three hairy ridges. The flowers only last up to four days, following which a single leaf develops, including on those plants that did not flower. The leaf is bright green, heart-shaped or kidney-shaped but appears almost circular, in diameter with wavy edges and prominent radiating veins. In Australia, flowering occurs between September and December after heavy rain but in areas north of the equator in April and May.

Taxonomy and naming

The tall shield orchid was first formally described in 1825 by

Carl Ludwig Blume Charles Ludwig de Blume or Karl Ludwig von Blume (9 June 1796 – 3 February 1862) was a German-Dutch botanist and entomologist who spent most of his professional life in the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. As deputy director of agricul ...

who gave it the name ''Cordyla concolor'' and published the description in '' Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië''. In 1911

Rudolf Schlechter Friedrich Richard Rudolf Schlechter (16 October 1872 – 16 November 1925) was a German taxonomist, botanist, and author of several works on orchids. He went on botanical expeditions in Africa, Indonesia, New Guinea, South and Central America an ...

transferred the species to ''

Nervilia ''Nervilia'', commonly known as shield orchids, is a genus of orchids with about 80 species widely distributed across most of sub-Saharan Africa, southern Asia (Saudi Arabia, India, China, Japan, Indochina, Indonesia, etc.), Australia, and vari ...

'' as ''N. concolor'' in ''

Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie This is a list of academic journals, monographic series, and other serials published by E. Schweizerbart. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N P Q R S T U V W Z {{columns-list, colwidth=30em, *''Zeitschrift ...

''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''concolor'') is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word meaning "coloured uniformly". In Australia the species is known as ''Nervilia aragoana'', first described in 1827 by

Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré (September 4, 1789 – January 16, 1854) was a French botanist. Biography Gaudichaud was born in Angoulême, to J-J. Gaudichaud and Rose (Mallat) Gaudichaud. He studied pharmacology informally at Cognac and Angoulême, ...

. The species is known by a variety of vernacular names in Asia: *Malaysia: Daun sa-helai sa-tahun, daun satu tahun (Peninsular). *Thailand: Phaen din yen (Chiang Rai), waan phra chim (Bangkok). *Vietnam: Ch a tr a xanh, thanh thi e q f, Ian c wf *Japan: Yaeyama-kuma-sô, aoi-bokuro

Distribution and habitat

''Nervilia concolor'' occurs in

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

, eastern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

, southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, southern

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, the

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

n region, the

Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. It grows in forest, rainforest and monsoonal rainforest.

Gallery

File:Nervilia concolor leaf emerging, Nala Village, Udaipur district, Rajasthan.jpg, Emergent leaf. Nala Village, Udaipur district, Rajasthan File:Nervilia concolor leaf fully open, Nala Village, Udaipur district, Rajasthan.jpg, New leaf still showing folds. Nala Village, Udaipur district, Rajasthan File:Nervilia aragoana 02.JPG, Leaves. Vayathur, Kerala, India File:Nervilia concolor colony. Tanguisson, Dededo, Guam.jpg, Colony in Tanguisson,

Dededo Dededo (; Spanish: ) is the most populated village in the United States territory of Guam. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Dededo's population was just under 45,000 in 2020. The village is located on the coral plateau of Northern Guam. The gr ...

, Guam File:Nervilia aragoana 3.JPG, Flowering stem. Tsukuba Botanical Garden, Ibaraki pref., Japan File:Nervilia aragoana 4.JPG, Flower.

Tsukuba Botanical Garden The is a major botanical garden near the University of Tsukuba at 4-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It is open daily except Mondays; an admission fee is charged. As a research branch of the National Museum of Nature and Science, ...

, Ibaraki pref., Japan File:Nervilia concolor fruits, Nala Village, Udaipur district, Rajasthan.jpg, Fruits. Nala Village, Udaipur district, Rajasthan

References

External links

The Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q15498706, from2=Q2548050 concolor Plants described in 1826 Orchids of Myanmar Orchids of India Orchids of Indonesia Orchids of Laos Orchids of Malaysia Orchids of New Guinea Orchids of Australia Orchids of Thailand Taxa named by Carl Ludwig Blume