Pinalia polyura

Pinalia polyura, or many-tailed pinalia, is a member of the orchid family endemic to the Philippines. It is semi-pendulous and sympodial, with pseudobulbs that are 20 cm long, 1 cm in diameter, and somewhat club shaped.[2] Each new growth begins halfway along the previous year's pseudobulbs, making the plant longer each year. Each pseudobulb has about 5 shiny, lanceolate leaves approximately 15 cm long and 2 cm wide. Inflorescences appear at the upper portion of the plant and are pendulous, about 10 cm long and bear up to 40 flowers each 1.5 cm in diameter. It grows as an epiphyte and sometimes as a semi-terrestrial plant at elevations to 2,400 meters.[3]

Pinalia polyura
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Orchidaceae
Genus:	Pinalia
Species:	P. polyura
Binomial name
Pinalia polyura (Lindl.) Kuntze
Synonyms[1]
Eria polyura Lindl.

Taxonomic history

Illustration from Edwards's Botanical Register, volume 28 (NS 5) plate 32, 1842, by Sarah Drake

John Lindley named this species Eria polyura in 1841 in Edwards's Botanical Register.[1][4] It was moved to the genus Pinalia in 1892 by Otto Kuntze.[5]

References

1. "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families".
2. The orchids of the Philippines , J.Cootes 2001
3. Orchidiana Philippiniana Vol1 Valmayor 1984
4. Lindley, J. (1841). "114. Eria polyura". Edwards's Botanical Register. 27 (55).
5. Kuntze, O. (1892). Revisio generum plantarum:vascularium omnium atque cellularium multarum secundum leges nomenclaturae internationales cum enumeratione plantarum exoticarum in itinere mundi collectarum. 2. Leipzig: Arthur Felix.