密花苹兰 mi hua ping lan

Basionym: Octomeria spicata D. Don, Prodr. Fl. Nepal. 31. 1825; Eria convallarioides Lindley; E. convallarioides var. major Lindley; E. salwinensis Handel-Mazzetti; E. spicata (D. Don) Handel-Mazzetti.

Pseudobulbs contiguous, cylindric or fusiform, 3-16 × 0.5-1.5 cm, with 1 internode, distally 2-4-leaved. Leaves petiolate, elliptic or obovate-lanceolate, 5-22 × 1-4 cm, apex obtuse. Inflorescences 1-3, arising from near apex of pseudobulb, 3-5 cm, densely many flowered, with 2 basal sheaths; rachis, pedicel, and ovary densely rusty puberulent; floral bracts lanceolate, ca. 8 mm, glabrous, acuminate. Flowers white, lip apex yellow; pedicel and ovary 2-4 mm. Dorsal sepal elliptic, ca. 6 × 2.5 mm, obtuse-rounded; lateral sepals ovate-triangular, oblique, ca. 6 × 3.5 mm, acute. Petals elliptic, ca. 5 × 2 mm, obtuse-rounded; lip subrhombic in outline, ca. 5 × 5 mm, base narrowed into a claw, 3-lobed; lateral lobes perpendicular to mid-lobe, ovate-triangular; mid-lobe deltoid, ca. 1 × 1.5 mm, thickened, acuminate. Column ca. 2 mm, upper part slightly enlarged; foot ca. 3 mm. Capsule cylindric, ca. 1.5 cm × nearly 3 mm. Fl. Jul-Oct. 2n = 20 + 2B, 38, 40.

Epiphytic on trees on wooded slopes or lithophytic on rocks in valley forests; 800-2800 m. S and SE Xizang, S Yunnan [Bhutan, NE India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, N Vietnam].