Rare leafless orchid discovered in Vietnam's Quảng Trị province
A rare leafless orchid, Erythrorchis ochobiensis Garay, has been discovered in Quảng Trị, a province in central Vietnam, and is prized for its distinctive features and the value of its genetic resources.
On the afternoon of November 10, Trần Văn Tý, head of the Quảng Trị Forest Protection Sub-Department, said that during a program studying plant diversity and medicinal plant resources in the province, researchers from the Central Vietnam Institute of Scientific Research (Viện Nghiên cứu Khoa học miền Trung) and the Quảng Trị Forest Protection Sub-Department found a leafless orchid in the Rú Lịnh forest in the former Vĩnh Linh district.
The leafless orchid found in the Rú Lịnh forest is Erythrorchis ochobiensis Garay, a member of the orchid family (Orchidaceae), characterized by underground stems and roots and a mycoheterotrophic lifestyle, with striking clusters of white flowers and a yellow center.
The mycoheterotrophic leafless orchid discovered in Rú Lịnh, Quảng Trị. (Photo: Tuấn Anh)
Three species in this genus have been recorded worldwide, ranging from India and Indochina through tropical Asia to Australia. All are considered rare orchids because of their distinctive features and genetic value. Vietnam is home to two of them: Erythrorchis altissima Blume and the Erythrorchis ochobiensis Garay mentioned above.
Previously, Vietnamese and foreign scientists had recorded them in the Đakrông Nature Reserve in Quảng Trị, as well as in the former Ninh Thuận province (now part of Khánh Hòa) and the former Quảng Bình province (now part of Quảng Trị).
However, because it is a mycoheterotrophic leafless orchid, it can survive only in natural habitats where it can draw on fungi and does not adapt to transplanting or cultivation.
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