ORCHIDACEAE
Cyrtosia Blume, in Bijdr. Fl. Ned. Ind.: 396 (1825).
Galeola Lour.
By: Bhakta B. Raskoti
Taxon Description
Mycoheterotrophic herbs. Rhizomes stout, roots emerged from nodes. Stem branched or unbranched, noded. Inflorescence raceme or panicle, terminal and lateral; rachis pubescent; floral bracts persistent. Flowers usually semi-spreading. Sepals free or connivent, often hairy. Petals slightly smaller than sepals. Lip entire, usually cup-shaped or saccate, spurless. Column stout, dilated at apex, foot absent; pollinia 2, granular-farinaceous, caudicle or viscidium absent; stigma concave; rostellum wide. Fruit oblong.
Taxon Statistics
Worldwide 7 species, distributed in Asia, E Asia and South East Asia. One species in Nepal.
1. Cyrtosia lindleyana Hook.f. & Thomson, in J.D.Hooker, Ill. Himal. Pl. t. 22 (1855).
Galeola lindleyana (Hook.f. & Thomson) Rchb.f.; Erythrorchis lindleyana (Hook.f. & Thomson) Rchb.f.; Galeola kwangsiensis Hand.-Mazz.; G. matsudae Hayata
Plants ca. 1 m tall. Rhizome stout, 2–3 cm in diam., noded, node with scales. Stem 1–3 m tall, noded, node with scalelike ovate bracts, 1.5–3 × 0.7–1 cm, apex acute. Inflorescence paniculate, panicle 8–14 cm; panicle up to 10-flowered. Sterile bracts ovate-lanceolate, 5–10 × 2–3 cm, apex acute. Floral bracts ovate, 5–7 × 4 mm, apex acute, surface below pubescent. Flowers yellow, 2–3 cm across. Pedicel and ovary 1.5–2.8 cm, pubescent. Dorsal sepal ovate-elliptic, 1.5–3 × 2.5 cm, surface below tomentose and carinate. Lateral sepals 2.5–2.6 × 2 cm, apex acute, surface below pubescent. Petals broadly ovate slightly shorter than dorsal sepal, 2–2.5 × 1.5–2 cm, apex acute to subacute. Lip cup-shaped, 1.5–2 × 1.7 cm, entire, adaxially papillate, hairy, base with 1 smooth callus, margin fimbriate. Column clavate, 6–8 X 4-5 mm. Fruit suboblong, 12–14 × 1.5–2 cm.
Distribution: Nepal, Assam-Burma, E Asia, SE Asia, S Asia, E Himalaya, Tibetan Plateau and W Himalaya.
Altitudinal range: 1900–2200 m.
Ecology: Forest thickets.
Flowering: July–August. Fruiting: September–November.