指柱兰 zhi zhu lan

Plants to 10 cm tall. Tuber ca. 3 mm in diam.; rhizomatous portion of subterranean stem cylindric, 6-10 × 1-2 mm, puberulent, with 1 or 2 small apical scales. Stem 4-10 cm, slender, angled, with 1 short cataphyll near base. Leaf midway along stem, triangular-ovate, 3-5 × 2-4 mm, 3-veined, apex acuminate. Inflorescence 1-3-flowered; floral bracts pale green, slightly smaller than leaf. Flowers pale green with pale reddish purple lip; pedicel and ovary 5-9 mm. Dorsal sepal linear, ca. 4 × 0.5 mm, basal margin long ciliate; lateral sepals narrowly linear, ca. 2.5 mm. Petals ca. 3.5 mm, narrower than dorsal sepal; lip broadly ovate, ca. 3.5 mm, margin denticulate; basal callus ca. 1.5 mm, fleshy, divided at middle into apical and basal lobes, apical lobe slightly shorter than basal lobe, both shallowly 2-lobed at apex. Column ca. 3.5 mm, with a digital appendage below stigma. Fl. Aug-Sep.

In shade and along gullies in dense forests; ca. 1800 m. N Fujian, S Hunan, Taiwan [Japan].