Ponerorchis keiskei (Finet) X. H. Jin, Schuit. & W. T. Jin

Ponerorchis keiskei (synonym Amitostigma keiskei) is a species of plant in the family Orchidaceae. The species is endemic to Japan.^[1]

Taxonomy

The species was first described in 1879 by Karl Maximovich, using the name "Gymnadenia keiskei". However, this name had already been published in 1878 for a different orchid species, so Maximovich's name was illegitimate. In 1900, Achille Eugène Finet reduced the species to a variety as Gymnadenia gracilis var. keiskei – this was the first legitimate name. In 1919, Friedrich Rudolf Schlechter transferred the species to Amitostigma as Amitostigma keiskei.^[1] A molecular phylogenetic study in 2014 included Amitostigma keiskei and found that species of Amitostigma, Neottianthe and Ponerorchis were mixed together in a single clade, making none of the three genera monophyletic as then circumscribed. Amitostigma and Neottianthe were subsumed into Ponerorchis, with this species becoming Ponerorchis keiskei.^[2]

References