Cautleya spicata (Sm.) Baker

Pseudostems 30--60 cm. Leaves 4--7, petiolate; ligule 5--10 mm, membranous, apex obtuse or acute; petiole 1.5--2 cm; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate to linear, 12--30 × 1.6--4 cm, base rounded or obtuse, apex caudate-acuminate. Spikes 7--12 cm, densely many flowered; bracts red, oblong, 2.5--3 cm, longer than calyx. Flowers yellow. Calyx 1.5--2.5 cm, split on 1 side, apex 2-toothed. Corolla 2--2.5 cm; lobes lanceolate, 2--2.5 cm. Lateral staminodes oblanceolate-oblong, subequaling central lobe of corolla. Labellum ca. 2.5 cm, apex 2-cleft. Anther linear, ca. 1.5 cm. Capsule red, globose, ca. 1 cm in diam. Seeds black, ovoid, enclosed in white, scarious aril. Fl. Jul, fr. Sep--Oct. 2 n = 34.

Himalaya (Simla to Sikkim).

Guizhou, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, N India, Nepal, Sikkim].

1800-2800 m

Forest floors or epiphytic on trees; 1100--2600 m.

Roscoea spicata Smith, Trans. Linn. Soc. London 13: 461. 1822.

Flowering in July; fruiting from September to October.

Cautleya spicata is occurring in Guizhou, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan of China, Bhutan, N India, Nepal, Sikkim.

Pseudostems 30-60 cm. Leaves 4-7, petiolate; ligule 5-10 mm, membranous, apex obtuse or acute; petiole 1.5-2 cm; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate to linear, 12-30 cm long, 1.6-4 cm wide, base rounded or obtuse, apex caudate-acuminate. Spikes 7-12 cm, densely many flowered; bracts red, oblong, 2.5-3 cm, longer than calyx. Flowers yellow. Calyx 1.5-2.5 cm, split on 1 side, apex 2-toothed. Corolla 2-2.5 cm; lobes lanceolate, 2-2.5 cm. Lateral staminodes oblanceolate-oblong, subequaling central lobe of corolla. Labellum ca. 2.5 cm, apex 2-cleft. Anther linear, ca. 1.5 cm. Capsule red, globose, ca. 1 cm in diameter. Seeds black, ovoid, enclosed in white, scarious aril.

The chromosomal number of Cautleya spicata is 2n = 26 (Mehra and Sachdeva, 1979).

Growing in forest floors or epiphytic on trees; 1100-2600 m.