大苞兰 da bao lan

Ione racemosa (Smith) Seidenfaden; I. scariosa (Lindley) King & Pantling; Stelis racemosa Smith; Sunipia racemosa (Smith) Tang & F. T. Wang; Tribrachia racemosa (Smith) Lindley.

Rhizome creeping, stout, ca. 4 mm in diam. Pseudobulbs ca. 4 cm apart on rhizome, ovoid or obliquely ovoid, 2-3 cm, ca. 1.5 cm in diam., with 1 leaf at apex. Petiole ca. 1.5 cm; leaf blade oblong, 12-16.5 × ca. 2 cm, leathery, base contracted into petiole, apex obtuse and retuse. Scape to 33 cm; raceme ± nodding, more than 10-flowered; peduncle 8-23 cm, 2-3 mm in diam., sparsely with 3-5 tubular sheaths; floral bracts regularly distichous, broadly ovate, cymbiform, ca. 7 × 6 mm, membranous, apex acute. Pedicel and ovary ca. 2 mm. Flowers small, enclosed in floral bracts, pale yellow. Dorsal sepal ovate, concave, ca. 4.5 × 3 mm, apex acute; lateral sepals obliquely ovate, ± V-shaped-conduplicate, ca. 6.5 × 2.5 mm, with 1 vein, their lower edges connate to each other, apex acute. Petals obliquely ovate, ca. 3 × 2.2 mm, 1-veined, abaxial base with 1 fleshy ligulate appendage, margins denticulate, apex obtuse; lip ligulate, ca. 4.5 × 2 mm, fleshy, adaxial base with a channel and a keel in it, apex obtuse. Column ca. 2 mm; foot inconspicuous; 2 pairs of pollinia with 1 common Y-shaped stipe and a single viscidium. Fl. Mar-Apr.

Tree trunks in open forests; 800-2500 m. S and W Yunnan [NE India, Myanmar, Nepal, N Thailand, N Vietnam].