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Nervilia

{{short description|Genus of orchids}}

{{Italic title}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| name = Shield orchids

| image = Nervilia aragoana 4.JPG

| image_caption = Nervilia concolor in the Tsukuba Botanical Garden

| display_parents = 3

| parent_authority = Schltr.

| taxon = Nervilia

| authority = Comm. ex Gaudich.{{cite web |title=Nervilia |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/results?f=accepted_names&page.size=480&q=Nervilia |publisher=Plants of the World Online |access-date=9 April 2025}}

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = About 65, see text

| synonyms_ref = {{cite web |title=Nervilia |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30095-1 |publisher=Plants of the World Online |access-date=9 April 2025}}

| synonyms =

}}

Nervilia, commonly known as shield orchids, is a genus of orchids with about 80 species widely distributed across most of sub-Saharan Africa, southern Asia (Saudi Arabia, India, China, Japan, Indochina, Indonesia, etc.), Australia, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.{{WCSP |135247 |Nervilia |access-date = 15 August 2018 }}[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=135247 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families] Six species occur in Australia (2 or 3 of these endemic),{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=David L.|title=A complete guide to native orchids of Australia including the island territories|date=2006|publisher=New Holland|location=Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.|isbn=1877069124|page =280}} with 16 in India,[http://orchidkerala.googlepages.com/nervilia.htm Orchid Kerala, Nervilia] 10 in China[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=122179 Flora of China v 25 p 197, 芋兰属 yu lan shu, Nervilia Commerson ex Gaudichaud, Voy. Uranie, Bot. 421. 1829. ] and 5 in South Africa.Plants of Southern Africa: an Online Check List

Description

Orchids in the genus Nervilia are terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, sympodial herbs with an oval to almost spherical tuber and sometimes a few short roots. One or two flowers are borne on an erect, fleshy, leafless flowering stem. When flowering the plants lack leaves, but a single erect or ground-hugging leaf develops after the flower has fully opened. The leaves are usually wrinkled or crumpled with distinct, fan-like veins, giving rise to the genus name. The flowers are often short-lived, lasting for only a few days. The sepals and petals are similar, but the labellum is prominent and often composed of three lobes. The genus is poorly understood, mainly because the flower and leaf are present at different times, so that herbarium specimens are often incomplete.{{cite web |title=Nervilia |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=122179 |publisher=Flora of China |access-date=15 August 2018}}{{cite web |title=Nervilia |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=122179 |publisher=Flora of Pakistan |access-date=15 August 2018}}

Taxonomy and naming

The genus Nervilia was first formally described in 1827 by Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré after an unpublished description by Philibert Commerson. The description was published in his book Voyage autour du monde.{{cite book |last1=Gaudichaud-Beaupré |first1=Charles |title=Voyage autour du monde |date=1826 |location=Paris |pages=421–422 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/98627#page/437/mode/1up |access-date=15 August 2018}} The name Nervilia is derived from the Latin word nervus meaning "nerve",{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Roland Wilbur|title=The Composition of Scientific Words|date=1956|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.|page = 555}} referring to the veined leaves.{{cite book |last1=Quattrocchi |first1=Umberto |title=CRC world dictionary of plant names: common names, scientific names, eponyms and etymology |url=https://archive.org/details/crcworlddictiona04quat |url-access=limited |date=2000 |publisher=CRC Press |location=Boca Raton, Florida USA |isbn=0849326737 |page=[https://archive.org/details/crcworlddictiona04quat/page/n410 1814]}}

Nervilia is the sole member of its subtribe, the Nerviliinae.

=Species list=

The following is a list of species of Nervilia recognised by the Plants of the World Online as of April 2025:

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Nervilia simplex var. himachalensis has been described, but is not accepted by Plants of the World Online.

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite journal|last1=Chase|first1=Mark W.|last2=Cameron|first2=Kenneth M.|last3=Freudenstein|first3=John V.|last4=Pridgeon|first4=Alec M.|last5=Salazar|first5=Gerardo|last6=van den Berg|first6=Cássio|last7=Schuiteman|first7=André|title=An updated classification of Orchidaceae|journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society|volume=177|issue=2|year=2015|pages=151–174|issn=0024-4074|doi=10.1111/boj.12234|doi-access=free}}

{{cite journal |last1=Chandra |first1=Rimjhim |last2=Gogoi |first2=Khyanjeet |title=Nervilia simplex var. himachalensis (Orchidaceae): A new variety from Himalchal Pradesh, India |journal=Journal of the Orchid Society of India |date=2024 |volume=38 |pages=9–13 |url=https://orchidsocietyindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/NERVILIA-SIMPLEX-VAR.-HIMACHALENSIS.pdf |access-date=9 April 2025}}

}}

External links

  • [http://orchidkerala.googlepages.com/nervilia.htm Nervilia - Commerson ex Gaudichaud-Beaupre]

{{WestAfricanPlants|Nervilia}}

{{Taxonbar|from1=Q1948922|from2=Q13894126}}

Category:Nervilieae genera