川滇叠鞘兰 chuan dian die qiao lan

Zeuxine inverta W. W. Smith, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 13: 222. 1921; Evrardianthe inverta (W. W. Smith) Rauschert; Hetaeria inverta (W. W. Smith) Schlechter.

Plants 5-15 cm tall. Rhizome stout, fleshy. Stem erect, pale brownish yellow, with a few brownish yellow sheathing scales. Inflorescence few to more than 10-flowered; rachis 2.5-5.5 cm; floral bracts ovate-lanceolate, 7-9 mm, slightly shorter than ovary, glabrous, apex acute. Flowers orange-yellow; ovary and pedicel brownish yellow, fusiform, 8-10 mm. Dorsal sepal connivent with petals, narrowly oblong, concave, ca. 4 × 1.2 mm, 1-veined, apex obtuse; lateral sepals ovate, oblique, falcate, ca. 4.5 × 1.8 mm, 1-veined, apex subacute. Petals linear to linear-lanceolate, falcate, ca. 4 × 0.5 mm, 1-veined, apex acute; lip T-shaped, 5-6 mm, 3-partite; hypochile slightly dilated, concave-saccate, ca. 1.5 mm, containing 2 domed calli near base; mesochile 2.5-3 mm, lacking external flanges; epichile transversely dilated, suboblong, 1.2-1.6 × ca. 4 mm, 2-lobed; lobes subquadrate, diverging at right angles to axis of lip, ca. 1.5 × 1.5 mm, margin minutely erose, apex truncate. Column short, with 2 triangular-falcate wings; anther ovoid, with 2 narrowly triangular-lanceolate lamellate lobes at base; rostellum erect, remnant bifid. Fl. Jul-Aug.

● Damp places in forests, along valleys; 1200-2600 m. SW Sichuan, C and W Yunnan.