Entry From FZ, Vol 11, Part 1, (1995) Author: I. la Croix and P.J. Cribb
Contributor Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)
Resource Type Reference Sources
Information Terrestrial herb 9–46 cm tall, glabrous except for the tuber and roots.Tubers usually 2, 3–3.5 cm long, ovoid, villous.Basal leaf usually 1, occasionally 2, pale green, 4–21 × 1.8–5 cm, ovate to elliptic, acute or apiculate, the base clasping the stem.Peduncle usually with 1 sheathing leaf.Inflorescence 1–10-flowered, the flowers set close together, often held with lip pointing upwards; bracts 9–10 mm long, ovate, acute; ovary and pedicel erect, 3–4 × 3 mm, narrowing to a \"neck\" 3 mm long below the flowers.Flowers lilac, yellowish or white in the centre, the lip paler than the sepals and petals, but darker at the tips of the lobes.Dorsal sepal 5–6 × 3–5 mm, ovate, lobes convex; lateral sepals 6–7 × 2.5–3 mm, obliquely ovate.Petals 5–5.5 × 2–2.5 mm, falcate, forming hood with dorsal sepal.Lip 8–20 mm long, 4-lobed, the lobes oblong or spathulate, rounded or truncate at the ends.Side lobes 4–7 × 2–4 mm; mid-lobe 10 mm long, bifid, the lobes resembling the side lobes, but slightly narrower.Spur slender, more or less straight, 15–30 mm long.Column stout, 2.5 mm long.