莲瓣兰 lian ban lan

Plants terrestrial, autotrophic. Pseudobulbs ellipsoid or ovoid, small, 1-2 × 0.5-1 cm, enclosed in leaf bases, with thick roots 5-10 mm in diam. Leaves 5-7(-10), stiff or flexuous, lorate, (30-)40-65 × 0.4-1.8 cm, thinly leathery, not articulate at base, margin serrulate, apex acute to acuminate. Inflorescence arising from near base of pseudobulb, erect, 20-30 cm; peduncle with several sheaths; rachis (2 or)3-7-flowered; floral bracts linear-lanceolate, usually 25-40 × 6-9 mm, exceeding ovary. Flowers scented, variable in color; pedicel and ovary 24-32 mm; sepals and petals usually pale greenish yellow or whitish; lip pale greenish yellow or whitish, sometimes with purplish red markings. Sepals oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 30-38 × 7-8 mm, apex acute, sometimes slightly twisted. Petals ovate-lanceolate or oblong, 25-30 × 8-9 mm, apex acute; lip ovate to elliptic, 18-20 × 8-10 mm, not fused to basal margins of column, 3-lobed; lateral lobes erect, small; mid-lobe recurved, ovate or broadly ovate, 10-11 × 9-10 mm; disk with 2 longitudinal lamellae extending from base of lip almost to base of mid-lobe. Column 14-15 mm, with purplish striations on ventral surface; pollinia 4, in 2 pairs.

● Open forests, forest margins, grassy slopes, rocky and scrubby slopes; 800-2500 m. Guizhou, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan.

Lower Taxa

• Cymbidium tortisepalum var. longibracteatum (Y. S. Wu & S. C. Chen) S. C. Chen & Z. J. Liu
• Cymbidium tortisepalum var. tortisepalum