海南砂仁 hai nan sha ren

Plants 1--1.5 m tall. Ligule lanceolate, 2--4.5 cm, membranous, glabrous; petiole ca. 5 mm; leaf blade linear-lanceolate or linear, 20--30 × 2.5--3 cm, glabrous, base attenuate, apex caudate-apiculate. Spikes with 1--3 cm long peduncle; bracts brown, lanceolate, 2--2.5 cm; bracteoles tubular, ca. 2 cm. Calyx white, 2--2.2 cm, apex 3-toothed. Corolla slightly longer than calyx; lobes oblong, ca. 1.5 cm. Labellum white with purple midvein and yellow apex, orbicular-spatulate, ca. 2 × 2 cm, midvein convex, apex with 2-lobed point. Stamen ca. 1 cm; connective appendage 3-lobed, central lobe orbicular, lateral ones suborbicular. Capsule ovoid, 1.5--2.2 × 0.8--1.2 cm, obtusely 3-angled, with branched, soft, flaky spines to 1 mm. Seeds purple-brown, enclosed in a brown, membranous aril. Fl. Apr--May, fr. Jun--Sep.

* Forests. Hainan.

Cultivated for medicine.