少花山兰 shao hua shan lan

Oreorchis rockii Schweinfurth.

Plants 8-20 cm tall. Pseudobulbs cylindric to ovoid, 0.6-1 × ca. 0.5 cm, 2- or 3-noded, sometimes persisting and forming a chain of pseudobulbs connected by a short rhizome. Leaf solitary, narrowly elliptic, 1.8-4 × 0.8-1 cm, base rounded or cuneate and abruptly contracted into a distinct petiole-like stalk 1-2 cm, apex acuminate. Inflorescence 8-18 cm, with 2 or 3 tubular sheaths below middle; rachis 1.5-4 cm, laxly 1-3(or 4)-flowered; floral bracts ovate-deltoid, ca. 1 mm. Flowers purple, lip white to pale purple with purple spots; pedicel and ovary 3-5 mm. Sepals narrowly oblong, 12-15 × 2-2.8 mm, apex obtuse or acute; lateral sepals slightly falcate. Petals oblanceolate, 7-9 × ca. 2 mm, apex obtuse or acute; lip obovate-oblong, 8-10 × 5-6 mm, shortly clawed at base, 3-lobed below middle; lateral lobes slightly incurved, narrowly oblong-obovate, 1.5-2 × ca. 0.5 mm, apex obtuse; mid-lobe obovate-spatulate, ca. 6 × 5-6 mm, margin slightly undulate, apex rounded; disk with a pair of subelliptic lamellae at base. Column slightly arcuate, 4.5-6 mm, thick. Fl. Jun-Jul.

● Alpine grasslands, forests, thickets, soil-covered rocks; 3000-4000 m. S Gansu, W Sichuan, E Xizang, NW Yunnan.