美花美冠兰 mei hua mei guan lan

Plants autotrophic, 50-70 cm tall. Pseudobulb borne above ground, erect, green, cylindric or ovoid, 8-10 × 1.5-2 cm, 2-5-noded, with several to many, long, fibrous roots. Leaves 2 or 3, present at anthesis, narrowly elliptic to suboblong, 10-25 × 3-7 cm, with 3 main veins raised abaxially, tapering at base into a petiole-like stalk, apex acute to acuminate; petiole-like stalk 8-15 cm, usually enclosed in a basal sheath and forming a pseudostem. Inflorescence arising from an intermediate node of pseudobulb, racemose, 50-70 cm, with a few scattered amplexicaul sheaths below middle; rachis 12-15 cm, laxly more than 10-flowered; floral bracts linear, 6-9 mm, shorter than ovary, apex acuminate. Flowers medium-sized, pale green with dull purple or red spots and blotches, lip white with dull purple or red venation and blotches toward base and on lateral lobes; pedicel and ovary 11-15 mm. Sepals and petals similar, suboblong-lanceolate to elliptic, 10-15 × 3-5 mm, apex acute or acuminate; lateral sepals somewhat oblique. Petals erect, loosely connivent with dorsal sepal and forming a hood; lip usually orbicular, 10-16 × 11-16 mm, spurred at base, and 3-lobed, rarely ovate-elliptic, simple, ca. 14 × 4.5 mm, and without a spur in peloric forms; lateral lobes erect and loosely embracing column, falcate, ovate, apex obtuse-rounded; mid-lobe oblate, to ca. 13 mm wide, apex deeply emarginate; disk with a pair of calli in front of mouth of spur, or ecallose in peloric forms; spur green, subglobose, ca. 3.5 mm, apex rounded. Column ca. 4 mm. Fl. Oct-Dec. 2n = 32.

Forests; 100-400 m. S Taiwan [Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; E Africa, Australia, Madagascar, Mascarene Islands, Pacific islands].

Lower Taxa

• Eulophia pulchra var. actinomorpha W. M. Lin, Kuo Huang & T. P. Lin
• Eulophia pulchra var. pulchra