肿节石斛 zhong jie shi hu

Callista crassinodis (Benson ex H. G. Reichenbach) Kuntze; C. pendula (Roxburgh) Kuntze; Dendrobium crassinode Benson ex H. G. Reichenbach.

Stems ascending or pendulous, cylindric, usually 22-40 cm, 1-1.6 cm in diam., fleshy and thick, unbranched, moniliform with many swollen nodes, internodes 2-2.5 cm, pale yellow tinged with gray when dry. Leaves oblong, 9-12 × 1.7-2.7 cm, leathery, base with clasping sheath, apex acute; leaf sheath thinly leathery, sheath mouth ± open when dry. Inflorescences often arising from upper part of deciduous stems, 1-3-flowered; peduncle somewhat thick and short, 2-5 mm; basal sheaths 1 or 2, tubular, ca. 6 mm; floral bracts pale white, broadly ovate, ca. 8 mm, papery, apex obtuse. Pedicel yellowish green; ovary pale purplish red, 3-4 cm. Flowers scented, spreading, large, waxy when dry; sepals and petals white, tipped purplish red, men- tum purplish red, lip white, golden yellow below middle, upper part purplish red. Dorsal sepal oblong, ca. 30 × 10 mm, 5-veined, acute; lateral sepals similar in size and shape, 5-veined, base slightly oblique, apex acute; mentum subconic, ca. 5 mm. Petals broadly oblong, ca. 30 × 15 mm, 6-veined, secondary veins many, base subcuneately narrowed, margin denticulate, apex obtuse; lip suborbicular, ca. 25 mm, very shortly clawed, both sides embracing column below middle, margin ciliate, both surfaces pubescent. Column ca. 4 mm, lower part enlarged, abaxially slightly finely papillate; anther cap subconic, finely papillate-hairy, apex slightly narrowed and subtruncate and eroded.

Epiphytic on tree trunks in open forests; 1000-1600 m. S Yunnan [NE India, Laos, Myanmar, N Thailand, Vietnam].