美叶舌喙兰 mei ye she hui lan

Galearis subrotunda (King & Pantling) P. F. Hunt; Hemipilia amethystina Rolfe ex J. D. Hooker; Orchis subrotunda King & Pantling.

Plants 5.5-11 cm tall. Tubers ovoid, ca. 2 cm. Stem with 1 tubular cataphyll at base, 1- or 2-leaved. Leaves abaxially dark greenish purple, adaxially dark green netted with purplish brown, suborbicular to ovate, 1.5-3 × 1-2.5 cm, base cordate to rounded, apex acute. Inflorescence 5-9.5 cm, with 2 or 3 narrowly ovate sterile bracts; rachis 1-3.5 cm, laxly 1-4-flowered; floral bracts ovate, ca. 6 mm, apex acuminate. Flowers white and purple; pedicel and ovary erect, sometimes slightly arcuate, 12-20 mm. Dorsal sepal ovate, 5-6.5 × 2-3 mm, 3-veined, apex acute; lateral sepals ovate-elliptic, oblique, 6-7 × 2.5-3 mm, 1-veined, apex acute. Petals ovate, slightly oblique, 4.5-5 × ca. 2 mm, 1-veined, apex acute; lip oblong to obovate, 9-11 × 6-8 mm, truncate, simple, margin undulate and slightly crenulate toward apex, apex obtuse or occasionally emarginate; spur conic to urceolate, 6-8 mm, slightly downcurved toward apex. Column ca. 2 mm; rostellum ligulate, ca. 1.5 mm. Fl. Oct.

About 1500 m. Yunnan [Myanmar, Thailand, N Vietnam].

A single, somewhat dwarf collection at K (Henry 13815) is referable to this taxon, though material from neighboring countries in SE Asia indicates that overall dimensions, as well as those for the leaf and flower parts, can sometimes be greater. When these larger plants are taken into consideration, lip dimensions in Hemipilia calophylla become continuous with those of H. kwangsiensis, making the distinction given in the key somewhat artificial. More material from China is required to assess the stability of floral characters within either taxon.