Callista nobilis (Lindley) Kuntze; Dendrobium coerulescens Wallich ex Lindley; D. formosanum (H. G. Reichenbach) Masamune; D. lindleyanum Griffith; D. nobile var. alboluteum Huyen & Averyanov; D. nobile var. formosanum H. G. Reichenbach; D. nobile f. nobilius (H. G. Reichenbach) M. Hiroe; D. nobile var. nobilius H. G. Reichenbach.

Stems erect, cylindric, 10-60 cm, stout, to 1.3 cm in diam., fleshy, base conspicuously contracted, unbranched, with many, sometimes slightly swollen, nodes, internodes 2-4 cm, golden yellow when dry. Leaves oblong, 6-11 × 1-3 cm, leathery, base with clasping sheath, apex obtuse and unequally bilobed. Inflorescences arising from old stems before or after leaves have fallen, 2-4 cm, 1-4-flowered; peduncle 5-15 mm; basal sheaths several, tubular; floral bracts ovate-lanceolate, 6-13 mm, membranous, apex acuminate. Pedicel and ovary pale purple, 0.3-0.6 cm. Flowers large, all parts white, tinged with pale purple at apex, sometimes entirely pale purplish red, with purplish red striation on either side at base of lip, or lip disk with a central purplish red spot, sometimes white, column green, anther cap purplish red. Dorsal sepal oblong, 25-35 × 10-14 mm, 5-veined, apex obtuse; lateral sepals similar, 5-veined, base oblique, apex acute; mentum conic, ca. 6 mm. Petals ± obliquely broadly ovate, 25-35 × 18-25 cm, main veins 3, secondary veins many, base shortly clawed, margin entire, apex obtuse; lip broadly ovate, 25-35 × 22-32 mm, both surfaces densely pubescent, base shortly clawed, embracing column below middle, margin shortly ciliate, apex obtuse. Column ca. 5 mm, base slightly dilated; anther cap conic, densely finely papillate, front margin with irregular sharp teeth.

Epiphytic on tree trunks in mountain forests, lithophytic on rocks in mountain valleys; 500-1700 m. NE to W Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan (Baisha), Hong Kong, W Hubei (Yichang), S Sichuan, Taiwan, SE Xizang (Mêdog), Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, N Thailand, Vietnam].