红头金石斛 hong tou jin shi hu

Rhizome creeping, 5-6 mm in diam., internodes 6-10 mm. Stems pendulous or ascending, golden yellow, branching. Pseudobulbs subcylindric, 4-6.3 cm × 7-9 mm. Leaf blade narrowly oblong, 8.5-12.5 × 1.4-1.6 cm, leathery, acuminate. Inflorescence usually 1- or 2-flowered; peduncle ca. 3 mm. Flowers lasting only half a day, lemon-yellow, lateral lobes of lip pale tangerine, lamellae brownish red; pedicel and ovary ca. 4 mm. Dorsal sepal ovate-oblong, ca. 10.5 × 3.5 mm, acute; lateral sepals obliquely ovate-triangular, similar in size to dorsal sepal, base oblique and broader, apex acute; mentum perpendicular to ovary. Petals narrowly oblong, ca. 9 × 2 mm, acute; lip obovate in outline, ca. 12 mm, ca. 7 mm wide between 2 lateral lobes when flattened, base cuneate, margin 3-lobed; lateral lobes erect, obovate, rounded; mid-lobe somewhat batlike, ca. 4.5 × 10 mm, margin slightly erose; disk with 2 lamellae extending from base to near base of mid-lobe; lamellae crisped undulate in apical half. Column ca. 3 mm; foot ca. 5 mm. Fl. Jun-Jul.

● Epiphytic on tree trunks in forests; ca. 1200 m. S Yunnan.