Aphyllorchis parviflora King & Pantling; Neottia asiatica Ohwi; N. micrantha Lindley (1840), not Llave & Lex (1825), nor G. Don (1839); N. oblonga Tang & F. T. Wang; N. parviflora (King & Pantling) Schlechter (1924), not Smith (1813); N. subsessilis Ohwi.

Plants leafless, holomycotrophic, 14-30 cm tall. Rhizome with many fleshy roots. Peduncle 10-25 cm, glabrous, with 3-5 sheaths; sheaths tubular, 1-5 cm, membranous; rachis 4-8 cm, glabrous, densely more than 20-flowered, flowers usually in clusters of 3 or 4; floral bracts oblong-ovate, 3-4 mm, glabrous, apex obtuse. Flowers small, resupinate, yellowish brown; pedicel 3-4 mm, glabrous; ovary elliptic, 2.5-3 mm, glabrous. Dorsal sepal narrowly lanceolate, 3-5 × ca. 0.8 mm, glabrous, 1-veined, apex long acuminate; lateral sepals similar to dorsal sepal, ca. 1 mm wide. Petals narrowly lanceolate, 2-3.5 × ca. 0.5 mm; lip variable in shape, usually ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or lanceolate, 2-3.5 × 1-2 mm, margin slightly incurved, 1- or 3-veined, apex acuminate or obtuse, unlobed. Column extremely short, usually less than 0.5 mm, shorter than rostellum and anther; anther erect, subelliptic, ca. 1 mm; stigma erect, transversely oblong, incurved on both sides, embracing rostellum; rostellum erect, ligulate, to ca. 1 mm. Capsule ellipsoid, ca. 6 × 3-4 mm. Fl. Jun-Aug. 2n = 36.

Forests, shaded grassy slopes; 1500-4100 m. Gansu, Hebei, Hubei, S Jilin, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, N Yunnan (Dayao) [India (Sikkim), Japan, Korea, Nepal, Russia (Far East)].