Herbs, mycotrophic. Rhizomes creeping or ascending, cylindric, slender, slightly rigid or subfleshy, branched or simple. Stem suberect, slender, branched or simple, with sparse scalelike sheaths. Raceme terminal, usually several to 10-flowered; floral bracts small, membranous. Flowers usually resupinate, small or medium-sized, with 1 small toothed cup (calyculus) between ovary and perianth, with abscission layer above calyculus near perianth base. Sepals and petals free, similar; lip base clawed, usually by canaliculate claw connate to column foot forming a tube, rarely free, spurless, upper part 3-lobed or unlobed; disk often hairy or papillose. Column rather slender, slightly dilated toward apex, slightly clavate; anther subterminal, 2-locular; pollinia 2, granular-farinaceous, without caudicle or conspicuous viscidium; rostellum short. Fruit a cylindric capsule.

Hsu and Chung (Taiwania 54: 83. 2009) recently added three species of Lecanorchis to the flora of China based on new discoveries in Taiwan. However, detailed accounts have yet to be published. Two of the three species, L. suginoana (Tuyama) Serizawa (Bunrui 5(1): 38. 2005) and L. virella T. Hashimoto (Ann. Tsukuba Bot. Gard. 8: 1. 1989), are also known to occur only in Japan, from where they were originally described. The third, L. triloba J. J. Smith (Bull. Dep. Agric. Indes Neerl. 19: 26. 1908; L. javanica Blume), is more widespread throughout parts of mainland SE Asia, the Malay Archipelago, New Guinea, and S Japan. The present authors have not seen Chinese material for any of these species. In the absence of refutable material, the three taxa are omitted from the following account.

About ten species: SE Asia to the Pacific islands, north to S China and Japan; four species (one endemic) in China.

(Authors: Chen Xinqi (陈心启 Chen Sing-chi); Phillip J. Cribb, Stephan W. Gale)