Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) documented 10 newly recorded orchid species, underscoring Indonesia’s vast undocumented biodiversity and the need for broader field exploration and herbarium research.
BRIN said on Monday the study, published in the journal Lankesteriana, was conducted with university and conservation partners across Indonesia between 2020 and 2024.
The research was led by the Center for Biosystematics and Evolution Research at BRIN, involving the Nusantara Native Plants Foundation, the Wetland Biota Conservation Foundation, Samudra University, and Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park.
"This shows that Indonesia, particularly Wallacea and eastern Indonesia, still holds significant orchid diversity that remains undocumented,” said Aninda Retno Utami Wibowo, researcher at BRIN’s Center for Biosystematics and Evolution Research.
“Field exploration and herbarium studies need to be continuously strengthened to enrich national biodiversity data,” she added.
The team documented 10 orchid species newly recorded in Indonesia, including Bulbophyllum nematocaulon, Bulbophyllum sanguineomaculatum, Cleisomeria lanatum, Corybas calopeplos, and Corybas holttumii from Sumatra.
Other species included Acanthophippium bicolor and Anoectochilus papuanus from Java, Dendrobium teretifolium from the Nusa Tenggara Islands, Bulbophyllum thiurum from Kalimantan, and Aerides augustiana from Sulawesi.
Fieldwork was carried out by Yuda Rehata Yudistira of the Nusantara Native Plants Foundation and the Wetland Biota Conservation Foundation, alongside Wendy A. Mustaqim of Samudra University’s Biology Department.
Researchers collected specimens, documented plant morphology, preserved herbarium samples, and compared them with collections held in Indonesian and international herbaria.
Several discoveries revealed notable biogeographical shifts.
Anoectochilus papuanus, previously known only from Papua and the Solomon Islands, was recorded in East Java for the first time.
Meanwhile, Dendrobium teretifolium, previously known from Australia, was recorded in East Nusa Tenggara, suggesting a wider historical distribution than previously understood.
Aninda said the records could provide a scientific basis for habitat protection and stronger conservation policy.
"Accurate species documentation is essential to support habitat protection and strengthen conservation policies based on scientific data,” she said.
The findings were published in Lankesteriana Volume 26, Issue 1, 2026, in an article titled “Ten New Orchid Records from the Indonesian Archipelago."
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Translator: Martha Herlinawati Simanjuntak
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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