Bletilla ORCHIDACEAE Cymbidium 



pink (in our species), often with white markings; lip 3-lobed, with the lateral lobes 



incurved and surrounding the column. 



About 8 species, in eastern Asia and Japan; 4 in China. (Name a diminutive of 



Bletia, named for Louis Blet, a Spanish botanist.) 

 1. Bletilla striata (Thunb.) Reichb. f. {Bletia hyacinthina R. Br.) Hff] (Jo Lan; 

 Bamboo-leaf Orchid) (B.M.303). Small to large herbs, 15-62 cm. high; flowers 

 red to violet or purple (rarely white or orange), V-VII. Tibet, Burma, Japan, 

 China; locally in Che., Hup., Ki., Ku. Cliffs or mountain forest. Fig. 507. 



10. Liparis L.C. Rich. ^jfM (Yang Erh Lan Shu; 

 Goat-ear-orchid Genus) 



A large, variable, cosmopolitan genus, terrestrial in our regions; plants commonly 

 low and stout, with thickened or pseudobulbous base, a pair of erect- spreading leaves 

 and a loosely few-flowered raceme; petals filiform; lip much the largest segment of 

 the flower, simple. 



About 300 species; 23 in China. 



1. Liparis cucullata Chien (Sc.C.6:29). Plant low, stout, 14-20 cm. high; leaves 2, 

 oval, subbasal; raceme loosely 8-to 9-flowered; flowers pale green with purple 

 cuneate-obovate lip. China; locally in Che. On humus between rocks, in front 

 of an old temple. Fig. 508. 



11. Oreorchis Lindl. \1\MM (Shan Lan Shu; Mountain-orchid Genus) 

 A small genus of terrestrials limited to the Old World; stems short, thickened 

 into a pseudobulb, 2-leaved in our region; leaves linear-lanceolate or elliptic-linear, 

 erect; inflorescence lateral, bearing at the summit a short, dense raceme of small or 

 medium-sized flowers; sepals and petals narrow, similar; lip spurless, 3-lobed. 

 About 16 species; 11 in China. 



1. Oreorchis intermedia Chien (Sc.C.6:26). Plant slender, about 28cm. tall; scape 

 shorter than the leaves, densely many-flowered at the summit; flowers small, white 

 and purplish, with purple-striate or-spotted lip. China; locally in Che., at side of 

 old temple. Fig. 509. 



12. Cymbidium Sw. HUM (Chien Lan Shu) 



Tufted terrestrials or epiphytes, with a more or less abbreviated rhizome; stems 

 very short and thickened, concealed by the imbricated bases of the leaves: leaves 

 conduplicate, narrow or linear, crowded at the base: scapes lateral, leafless but more 

 or less covered by sheaths, terminated by a loosely few-flowered raceme; flowers 

 rather large and showy, often 4-5 cm. or more across, with distinct spreading segments 

 in two nearly equal whorls; lip sessile, joined to the base of the arcuate column, 

 more or less distinctly 3-lobed; disc commonly with 2 prominent ridges. 



About 70 species, limited to the tropics and subtropics of the Old World; about 

 17 in China. (Greek word meaning boat, referring to the shape of the lip in natural 

 position.) 



1. Cymbidium ensifolium (L.) Sw. $tj?| (Chien Lan; Fukien Orchid) (Be.F.357). 

 Tufted; leaves up to over 83 cm. long; scape to 45 cm. long; flowers cream-colored 

 to pale green or yellow (rarely whitish), usually with reddish brown stripes and 



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