Epidendrum sinense Jackson ex Andrews, Bot. Repos. 3: ad t. 216. 1802; Cymbidium albojucundissimum Hayata; C. chinense Heynhold; C. fragrans Salisbury; C. hoosai Makino; C. sinense f. albojucundissimum (Hayata) Fukuyama; C. sinense var. albojucundissimum (Hayata) Masamune; C. sinense var. album T. K. Yen; C. sinense f. aureomarginatum T. K. Yen; C. sinense var. autumnale Y. S. Wu; C. sinense var. bellum T. K. Yen; C. sinense var. margicoloratum Hayata; C. sinense f. pallidiflorum S. S. Ying; C. sinense f. taiwanianum S. S. Ying; C. sinense f. viridiflorum T. K. Yen; Wutongshania guangdongensis Z. J. Liu & J. N. Zhang.

Plants terrestrial, autotrophic. Pseudobulbs ovoid, 2.5-6 × 1.5-2.5 cm, enclosed in leaf bases. Leaves 3-5, deep green, lorate, 45-110(-200) × (1.5-)2-3 cm, thinly leathery, articulate 3.5-7 cm from base. Inflorescence arising from base of pseudobulb, erect, somewhat robust, (40-)50-90 cm, usually slightly longer than leaves; rachis 10-20- or more flowered; floral bracts 4-8 mm and mostly less than 1/2 length of ovary, though basal bract more than 10 mm. Flowers usually strongly fragrant, variable in color, usually dark purple or purplish brown with a paler lip; pedicel and ovary 20-25 mm. Sepals narrowly oblong or narrowly elliptic, 22-35 × 5-7 mm, apex acute. Petals nearly narrowly ovate, 20-27 × 6-10 mm, apex acute; lip ovate-oblong, 17-25(-30) mm, not fused to basal margins of column, obscurely 3-lobed; lateral lobes erect, loosely clasping column; mid-lobe recurved, oblong-ovate, ca. 14 × 10 mm, margin slightly undulate; disk minutely papillate-pubescent, with 2 longitudinal lamellae extending from near base of lip to base of mid-lobe; lamellae converging in their apical half and forming a short tube. Column slightly arcuate, 12-15 mm, narrowly winged; pollinia 4, in 2 pairs, broadly ovoid. Capsule narrowly ellipsoid, 60-70 × 15-20 mm. Fl. (Oct-)Nov-Mar, fr. Dec-May. 2n = 40.

Forests, wet and well-drained shaded places in thickets along streamsides; 300-2000 m. S Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, SW Guizhou, Hainan, S Jiangxi, SC Sichuan (Emei Shan), Taiwan, Yunnan [India, Japan (Ryukyu Islands), Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam].