ORCHIDACEAE - China

86ORCHIDOIDEAEFlowers white; ovary green, 4–6 mm, glandular pubescent.Dorsal sepal forming a hood with petals, oblong, ca. 6 × 2 mm,outer surface glandular pubescent, apex acute; lateral sepalsnarrowly oblong, slightly oblique, 5–6 × ca. 0.8 mm, outersurface glandular pubescent, apex acute. Petals oblanceolate,slightly oblique, 5–6 × ca. 0.8 mm, apex obtuse; lip oblong, 5–6× ca. 2 mm, basal portion with 2 clavate glands, lateral marginserect and shallowly erose, apex truncate and recurved; diskglabrous. Column erect, ca. 1.5 mm; anther ovoid; pollinia ca.1.5 mm; rostellum triangular. Fl. May.● Open moist soil along streams, grasslands and mixed deciduousforests; 800–900 m. Gansu.This taxon is clearly very similar to Spiranthes hongkongensis.Further comparative studies, including observations of chromosomenumbers, are required.21. PELEXIA Poiteau ex Lindley, Bot. Reg. 12: ad t. 985. 1826, nom. cons.Adnula Rafinesque; Collea Lindley.肥 根 兰 属 fei gen lan shuChen Xinqi ( 陈 心 启 Chen Sing-chi); Stephan W. Gale, Phillip J. CribbHerbs, terrestrial, lithophytic, or rarely epiphytic. Rhizome absent, inconspicuous, or long; roots numerous, fleshy. Leaves usuallyforming a basal rosette, rarely cauline, several to many, lanceolate to ovate, petiole-like at base; petiole-like base slender or stout,channeled. Inflorescence erect, terminal, racemose, proximally glabrous, pubescent above; peduncle covered by several sheathingbracts. Flowers sometimes produced before leaves, resupinate, erect or horizontal, medium-sized, tubular; ovary fusiform, pubescent.Sepals pubescent adaxially; dorsal sepal concave, connivent with petals and forming a hood; lateral sepals connate at base, adnate tocolumn foot and forming a short spur, or rarely free and not forming a spur. Petals elliptic to oblanceolate, often oblique at base; lipentire and obovate to spatulate, or sometimes 2-partite with an expanded epichile, fleshy, margin adherent to column for most of itslength. Column elongate, stout, ventrally often puberulent or pubescent, base with long column foot; anther sessile, 2-locular;pollinia 2, longitudinally cleft, oblong-ovoid to narrowly ovoid, granular-farinaceous, tapering into caudicles attached to a solitaryovate viscidium; rostellum flexible, narrowly oblong or ligulate; stigma 2-lobed; lobes confluent or separate.About 75 species: Central and South America; one species (introduced) in China.1. Pelexia obliqua (J. J. Smith) Garay, Bot. Mus. Leafl. 28:345. 1982.肥 根 兰 fei gen lanSpiranthes obliqua J. J. Smith, Bull. Dépt. Agric. IndesNéerl. 43: 74. 1910; Manniella hongkongensis S. Y. Hu & Barretto.Plants terrestrial, 12–15 cm tall. Rhizome short; roots 1–7× 0.5–1 cm, fleshy, pilose. Leaves forming a basal rosette,appearing after flowering, 7 or 8, oblong to elliptic, 3.5–6.5 ×1.5–3.5 cm, margin occasionally undulate, apex acute; petiolelikebase short. Inflorescence glandular hairy; rachis ca. 4 cm,5–18-flowered; floral bracts linear-lanceolate, 7–11 mm, puberulent.Flowers ca. 3 mm in diam. Sepals pale grayish green,glandular hairy; dorsal sepal suboblong, concave at base, ca. 4× 1.5 mm, 3-veined; lateral sepals basally connate and forminga pouch, united with base of column. Petals pale grayishgreen, ca. as long as dorsal sepal, ca. 1 mm wide; lip subsessile,cream-yellow, 2-partite, fleshy; hypochile subquadrate,concave, papillate, base with 2 fleshy appendages near margin;epichile recurved, transversely ovate. Column short; stigma 2-lobed. Fl. Sep.Valleys. Hong Kong [introduced in Indonesia (Java) and the SWPacific islands; native to Central America].22. CORYBAS Salisbury, Parad. Lond. ad t. 83. 1807.铠 兰 属 kai lan shuChen Xinqi ( 陈 心 启 Chen Sing-chi); Stephan W. Gale, Phillip J. CribbCalcearia Blume; Corysanthes R. Brown; Nematoceras J. D. Hooker.Herbs, terrestrial or rarely epiphytic, small. Tuber solitary, globose to ovoid; subterranean stem and roots slender, fleshy,pubescent. Stem slender, erect, sometimes short and remaining subterranean, usually angled or winged, with a membranous tubularcataphyll at base. Leaf solitary (rarely 2), cordate or broadly ovate, entire or rarely 3- or 5-lobed, sessile or with a short petiole-likebase, often appressed to ground, with 1–3 main veins, venation usually white or red. Floral bracts 1 or 2. Flower terminal, solitary,nearly sessile, resupinate, held ± erect at leaf base; ovary usually 6-ridged. Dorsal sepal hoodlike and curved over lip, basal marginincurved and forming a tube that embraces base of lip; lateral sepals and petals linear, narrow, free or connate at base; lip deeplychanneled at base and forming a decurved tube with dorsal sepal, upper limb enlarged, spreading or reflexed, adaxially usuallyminutely papillose or hairy, with 2 spurs or auricles (rarely neither) at base. Column short; anther terminal, erect, 2-locular; pollinia 4or 2 with cleft, granular-farinaceous, without caudicles, directly attached to sticky viscidium; rostellum dorsal; stigma entire,concave. Capsule strongly 6-ridged, borne on elongate pedicel.About 100 species: mainly in New Guinea, Australia, and the Pacific islands, extending through SE Asia to the Himalayas; five species (fourendemic) in China.