小掌唇兰 xiao zhang chun lan

Ascochilus loratus Rolfe ex Downie, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1925: 407. 1925; Pteroceras loratum (Rolfe ex Downie) Seidenfaden & Smitinand.

Stems ascending, 3-16 cm, 5-7 mm in diam., rigid, sometimes branching, internodes 5-7 mm. Leaves many, distichous; leaf blade narrowly oblong, 10-16 × 0.9-1.8 cm, leathery, obtuse and slightly unequally bilobed. Inflorescences ascending, racemose, 1-5, 5-8 cm, laxly 3-6-flowered; peduncle slender, 1-1.5 mm in diam.; floral bracts triangular, ca. 2 mm, acute. Flowers opening widely, small, slightly fleshy, sepals and petals yellow with purplish brown spots, lip white; pedicel and ovary ca. 6 mm. Dorsal sepal subspatulate, ca. 5 × 2.5 mm, acute; lateral sepals obliquely obovate, ca. 5 × 3 mm, obtuse. Petals obliquely obovate, ca. 4.5 × 2.5 mm, obtuse; lip ca. 6 mm, fleshy, 3-lobed, base with a channeled, densely hairy claw ca. 2 mm; lateral lobes suboblong, ca. 2 × 1.5 mm; mid-lobe subquadrate, ca. 2 × 3 mm, fleshy, adaxially ± papillate, subtruncate; disk deeply concave at center; spur cylindric, ca. 2.5 × 1.5 mm, apex obtuse, interior with a densely hairy ligulate appendage on back wall. Column ca. 2 mm, with dense minutely papillate hairs; stipe spatulate, ca. 1.5 mm; viscidium elliptic, very thick. Capsule cylindric, 4-5 cm × ca. 5 mm. Fl. Jan-Mar, fr. Jun.

Epiphytic on tree trunks in forests; 700-1500 m. S Yunnan [Thailand].