Callista chrysantha (Wallich ex Lindley) Kuntze; Dendrobium chrysanthum var. anophthalma H. G. Reichenbach; D. chrysanthum var. microphthalma H. G. Reichenbach.

Stems pendulous or curving, cylindric, 50-200 cm, stout, 5-15 mm in diam., upper part sometimes upcurved, fleshy, unbranched, with many nodes, internodes 3-4 cm, pale yellow or yellowish brown when dry. Leaves distichous along entire stem, oblong-lanceolate, usually 13-19 × 1.5-4.5 cm, papery, base sheathing, apex acuminate; leaf sheath papery, sheath mouth often open cupular when dry, often pale white. Inflorescences (apparently) leaf-opposed, lateral, on upper part of mature leafy stems, fasciculate, almost sessile, 2-6-flowered; floral bracts ovate-triangular, ca. 3 mm, membranous. Pedicel and ovary slightly compressed, 3.5-6 cm, ca. 2 mm in diam. Flowers thickly textured, yellow, lip disk with a chestnut blotch on either side. Dorsal sepal ± concave, oblong or elliptic, 15-20 × 9-11(or more) mm, 7-veined, apex obtuse; lateral sepals slightly concave, obliquely ovate-triangular, 15-20 × 10-12 mm, 7-veined, base slightly oblique and broad, apex obtuse; mentum ca. 4 mm, broad and obtuse. Petals slightly concave, obovate, 16-22 × 11-14(or more) mm, 7-veined, margin entire or sometimes finely erose, apex rounded; lip concave, reniform or transversely oblong, ca. 18 × 22 mm, abaxially densely barbellate except for middle, adaxially densely barbellate, base abruptly contracted into short claw, with an oblong callus, margin entire, apex rounded; disk with a broad and thick ridge extending from base to middle. Column ca. 4 mm, foot ca. 6 mm; anther cap conic, ca. 2.5 mm, nearly glabrous, front margin nearly entire. Capsule elongate, cylindric, ca. 7 × 1.5 cm.

Z. H. Tsi and S. C. Chen (Acta Phytotax. Sin. 33: 291. 1995) named Chinese material of this species as "Dendrobium ochreatum Lindley" (in Wallich, Numer. List, no. 7410. 1832), which is a nomen nudum and therefore was not validly published.

Epiphytic on tree trunks in dense forests, lithophytic on wet rocks in valleys; 700-2500 m. W Guangxi, S Guizhou, SE Xizang, S Yunnan [Bhutan, N India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, N Thailand, Vietnam].