坛花兰 tan hua lan

Acanthephippium curtisii H. G. Reichenbach var. albidum Linden; A. pictum Fukuyama; A. ringiflorum Griffith; A. sylhetense var. pictum (Fukuyama) Hashimoto; A. yamamotoi Hayata.

Plants to 50 cm tall. Roots elongate. Pseudobulb ovoid-cylindric, 7-15 × 1.5-4 cm, 2-4-noded, with several large scalelike sheaths, 2-4-leaved. Leaves elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 30-40 × 8-11 cm, 5-veined, apex acuminate; petiole-like base ca. 2 cm, sheathing. Inflorescence 15-20 cm, fleshy, with several broadly ovate-lanceolate sheaths at base; rachis densely 3-5-flowered; floral bracts deep purple, ovate to oblong, concave, 2-2.5 cm, apex acute. Flowers white or yellow with purplish brown spots, campanulate-tubular, 40-45 mm; pedicel and ovary pale purple, 30-40 mm, sparsely pubescent. Sepals connate at base and connivent above, forming an urceolate tube with apices free; dorsal sepal subelliptic, 20-30 × 10-15 mm, 7-veined, apex obtuse; lateral sepals triangular to oblong, oblique, ca. 40 × 17-20 mm, 7-veined, base adnate to column foot, apex obtuse. Petals elliptic-obovate, 20-25 × 10-14 mm, fleshy, 5-veined, apex obtuse; lip adnate to apex of column foot, ca. 15 mm, fleshy, 3-lobed; lateral lobes erect, white, falcate, embracing column, ca. 8 mm; mid-lobe lemon-yellow, ligulate, 6-8 mm, apex obtuse, strongly recurved; disk white with purplish brown spots, fleshy, with 3-5 toothed lamellae; mentum formed by bases of lateral sepals and column foot, yellow with yellowish brown stripes, saccate, short, apex obtuse-rounded. Column white, ca. 15 mm; column foot white, tinged with purple, ca. 40 mm, inflexed at its mid-point through an angle of 30-40°, adnate to base of lateral sepals for ca. 1/2 of its length, slightly recurved toward apex; anther ca. 3 mm; larger pollinia ca. 2 mm, smaller pollinia ca. 1 mm; rostellum truncate; stigma broadly obovoid. Capsule to 60 mm. Fl. Apr-Jul.

Damp places in dense forests, along valleys; 500-800 m. Taiwan, S Yunnan [Bangladesh, NE India, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand].