Chamaegastrodia vaginata (J. D. Hooker) Seidenfaden, Nordic J. Bot. 14: 294. 1994.戟唇叠鞘兰 ji chun die qiao lan

Aphyllorchis vaginata J. D. Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 6: 117. 1890; Chamaegastrodia exigua (Rolfe) F. Maekawa ex Ormerod; Evrardianthe exigua (Rolfe) Rauschert; Hetaeria exigua (Rolfe) Schlechter; Spiranthes exigua Rolfe.

Plants 4-6 cm tall. Rhizome stout, fleshy. Stem erect, deep red, somewhat slender, with several dark red sheathing scales. Inflorescence 4-flowered; rachis 2-3 cm; floral bracts dark red, oblong-lanceolate, ca. 8 mm, slightly exceeding to subequal in length to ovary, apex subacute. Flowers deep red; ovary and pedicel brownish red, cylindric-fusiform, 6-8 mm. Dorsal sepal connivent with petals, ovate, concave, ca. 3 × 1.6 mm, 1-veined, apex subobtuse; lateral sepals ovate, oblique, ca. 3.2 × 1.6 mm, 1-veined, apex subobtuse. Petals narrowly oblong to oblong-lanceolate, ca. 3 × 0.8-1 mm, 1-veined, apex obtuse-acute; lip narrowly ovate to ovate-oblong, 3-3.5 × ca. 1.2 mm, base concave and with 2 sessile, elliptic calli, apex unlobed, acute to acuminate. Column stout, with 2 narrowly lanceolate wings toward apex; anther broadly ovoid, sessile; pollinia 2, attached to a narrowly oblong viscidium; rostellum subulate, curved slightly backward, remnant shortly bifid. Fl. Aug.

Along valleys and in damp places in evergreen broad-leaved forests; 1000-1600 m. Hubei, Sichuan [NE India].

The shape of the lip suggests that this entity is probably a semipeloric form. Seidenfaden (Nordic J. Bot. 14: 293-301. 1994) provides commentary that suggests that its closest relative is Chamaegastrodia asraoa (J. Joseph & Abbareddy) Seidenfaden & A. N. Rao, an Indian species now regarded as a member of Odontochilus; if so, the validity of Chamaegastrodia as an independent genus is questionable.