The First Record of the Genus Tropidia Lindl. (Orchidaceae) From Nepal

Orchidaceae, the largest family of the angiosperms, comprises various attractive flowers, not only important for their beauty but also for their use in medicine and trade. The orchid tribe Tropidieae comprises three genera Tropidia, Corymborkis and Kalimantanorchis. This tribe Tropidieae is one of the earliest diverging clades in sub-family Epidendroideae (Orchidaceae). Corymborkis comprises eight species and has a pan tropical distribution. Kalimantanorchis is the most recently established genus in the tribe and consists of single species distributed in Indonesia. The genus Tropidia is composed of ca. 30 species distributed in southern Asia, South Pacific islands and northern Australia, and a single species occurring in America, from United States to Ecuador. Orchidaceae is one of the largest and most diverse families of flowering plants in Nepal, comprising of more than 450 species that span 107 genera (around 7% of total angiosperms in Nepal). They are distributed between 60 m to 5200 m. Since orchids are facing an extinction risk from various anthropogenic factors at the regional and global level. The paper aims to document the species of new record of Orchid in and around the Kaligandaki valley. T. curculigoides has not been reported before. Thus the first record of the genus Tropidia for Nepal is elaborated here. It consists of Tropidia curculigoides, a species found in the sub-tropical region, Central Nepal. Description, photos, key and distribution site of the species are provided.