A new phylogenetic analysis sheds new light on the relationships in the Calanthe alliance (Orchidaceae) in China.

The taxonomy of the Calanthe alliance (Epidendroideae, Orchidaceae), consisting of Calanthe, Cephalantheropsis, and Phaius, has been difficult for orchidologists to understand because of the presence of common morphological features. In this study, in addition to morphological and geographical analyses, maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference analyses were performed based on nucleotide sequences of the nuclear internal transcribed spacer and cpDNA genes of 88 taxa representing the major clades of the Calanthe alliance in China. The results indicated that Cephalantheropsis is monophyletic, while both Phaius and Calanthe are polyphyletic. In Phaius, a total of three species, P. flavus, P. columnaris, and P. takeoi, were segregated to form a new genus, Paraphaius. In Calanthe, subgenus Preptanthe and sect. Styloglossum were both categorized as distinct genera from Calanthe. Our results also confirm that Calanthe delavayi and C. calanthoides are members of Calanthe. Previous studies assigned C. delavayi to Phaius and C. calanthoides to Ghiesbrechtia. Five sections, namely, Alpinocalanthe, Puberula, Ghiesbrechtia, Tricarinata, and Calanthe, three of which are new taxa, were recognized in Calanthe. Therefore, we propose that the Calanthe alliance is composed of six genera: Calanthe, Cephalantheropsis, Paraphaius, Phaius, Preptanthe and Styloglossum.