拟毛兰属 ni mao lan shu

Authors:Authors: Xinqi Chen, Yi-Bo Luo & Jeffrey J. Wood

Herbs, epiphytic, lithophytic, or rarely terrestrial. Stem short or elongate, usually slender, cylindric, of few to many internodes, lacking pseudobulbs, with leaves along whole length. Leaves alternate, in a biseriate arrangement on stem axis, conduplicate or rarely terete, usually long and narrow, articulate, base tightly enveloping stem, sometimes imbricate at base, sheaths persistent. Inflorescences subterminal or terminal, 1 or usually more than 1 together (as many as 12 in robust plants), with dense, short, stellate hairs, with numerous crowded small flowers; floral bracts triangular, usually small, broad at base and covered by short stellate hairs. Flowers spirally arranged, usually cream-colored or greenish yellow, sometimes adorned with small purple spots; pedicel, ovary, and abaxial surface of sepals tomentose, covered with similar hairs to inflorescence. Sepals and petals widely spreading. Dorsal sepal elliptic to triangular, acute; lateral sepals obliquely triangular, broadened at base, acute. Petals narrow, smaller than sepals; lip distinctly 3-lobed, or simple, rigid, perpendicular to long column foot; lateral lobes (when present) often erose; callus 2-partite, farinose, with a powdery median ridge that usually ends in a protruding globose callus at tip. Column erect, short, foot long; stigma almost circular or semicircular, large; anther cap hat-shaped, ventral side almost flat, usually not covering anther tightly, leaving pollinia fully exposed, hinged at base via a thin filament; pollinia 8, clavate, equal in size, with a common caudicle.

About 25 species: Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam; two species in China.