Pogonia kungii Tang & F. T. Wang; P. ophioglossoides (Linnaeus) Ker Gawler var. japonica (H. G. Reichenbach) Finet; P. parvula Schlechter; P. similis Blume.

Plants 10-20(-25) cm tall. Rhizome 10-20 × ca. 2 mm, with several, slender, elongate, slightly fleshy roots. Leaf oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 3.5-6(-9) × 0.7-1.7 cm, slightly fleshy, base contracted and amplexicaul, apex acute or obtuse. Floral bract positioned 4-8 cm above leaf, narrowly oblong, linear-lanceolate, or lanceolate, 15-25(-40) × 3-7 mm. Flower solitary, terminal, erect, not opening widely, pale pinkish purple to purple; pedicel and ovary 10-18 mm. Sepals narrowly oblong-oblanceolate, 15-22 × 2.5-3.5 mm, apex obtuse or acuminate. Petals similar to sepals, 14-22 × 3.5-5 mm, apex acuminate; lip narrowly oblong, 14-20 × 3-4 mm, slightly contracted toward base, obscurely 3-lobed above middle; lateral lobes triangular, ca. 0.8 mm, apical margin irregularly incised or fimbriate; mid-lobe ligulate to obovate, 6-13 × 3-4 mm, with 2 or 3 fimbriate-hairy crests, margin fimbriate-incised; disk with 2 or 3 longitudinal lamellae or ridges extending from base of lip and becoming continuous with hairy crests on mid-lobe. Column erect, 7-10 mm, slender. Capsule oblong, 20-25 × 5-6 mm. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Jul-Oct. 2n = 18, 20.

Grasslands on hilltops, forests along valleys, wet places in thickets, open wet places; 1100-2300 m. Anhui, N Fujian, N Guangxi, Guizhou, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Jilin, Nei Mongol, Shandong, Sichuan, NE Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea].