扁竹兰 bian zhu lan

Rhizomes creeping, stout. Stems erect, canelike, to 1.2 m, flattened, with prominent scars and bases of old leaf sheaths. Leaves 10 or more clustered into a terminal fan, yellowish green, glossy on 1 surface, somewhat glaucous on other, sword-shaped, 28--80 × 3--6 cm, veins obscure. Flowering stems with 5--8 slender branches near apex; spathes 4--6, ca. 1.5 cm, membranous, 3--5-flowered. Flowers white or bluish tinged, 4--5.5 cm in diam.; pedicel 1.5--2 cm, stiff, persistent. Perianth tube ca. 1.5 cm; outer segments elliptic, 2--3 × 1.5--2 cm, limb spreading, spotted yellow around crest, margin undulate, apex retuse; inner segments broadly lanceolate, ca. 2.5 × 1 cm, apex retuse. Stamens ca. 1.5 cm; anthers yellow. Ovary ca. 6 mm. Style branches pale blue, ca. 2 cm × 8 mm; terminal lobes fimbriate. Capsule ellipsoid, 2.5--3.5 × 1--1.4 cm, 6-ribbed, reticulate veined. Seeds dark brown. Fl. Apr, fr. May--Jul. 2 n = 30*.

* Forest margins, open groves, hillsides grasslands, ditches; 1600--2400 m. Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan.