A New Species of Goodyera (Orchidaceae: Orchidoideae) from Korea and Japan

A new species, Goodyera crassifolia (Orchidaceae: Orchidoideae; Cranichideae), distributed on offshore islands in southwestern Korea and in Japan, is described and illustrated. It is a terrestrial orchid characterized by having thick and fleshy leaves with pale green markings on the midrib and mottled with pale green markings on the lateral veins of the adaxial surface, erect and weakly oblique lateral sepals, lateral column appendages, and one-to-three rostella. Plants of G. crassifolia have been misidentified as G. schlechtendaliana. The two species often co-occur, but G. schlechtendaliana blooms earlier than G. crassifolia, showing a gap in their flowering times. Plants of G. schlechtendaliana flower from late August to early September, whereas those of G. crassifolia bloom from late September to early October. The chromosome number of G. crassifolia is 2n = 60, twice as many as the chromosome number of G. schlechtendaliana.

Automated summary

This article describes a new terrestrial orchid species, Goodyera crassifolia, which is similar to G. schlechtendaliana but differs in flowering time and chromosome number.