Cymbidium elegans - Elegant Cymbidium

Elegant Cymbidium is a large sized, tree-dwelling or rock-dwelling orchid with ovoid, bilaterally compressed pseudobulbs and carrying narrowly linear-elliptic, pointed, hooded and unequally bilobed apically leaves 4-12 cm. The plant blooms on an arching to pendant, slender, up to 60 cm long, densely many flowered (20 to 35) raceme with slightly scented, close set flowers that do not open well, arising from the lower leaf axils occuring in the fall to early winter. Flowers are slightly fragrant, drooping, narrowly bell-shaped, not opening widely; flower-stalk and ovary 12-21 mm. Sepals and petals are cream-yellow to pale yellowish green, sometimes tinged pale pink; lip cream-yellow to pale yellowish green, occasionally with reddish spots, lamellae bright orange. Sepals are narrowly obovate-lanceshaped, 34-43 x 7-11 mm, tip pointed. Petals are broadly linear-inverted-lanceshaped, 30-40 x 5-8 mm, tip blunt. Lip is inverted-lanceshaped-triangular, 30-40 x 4-8 mm, base fused to basal margins of column for 2-3 mm, 3-lobed; lateral lobes loosely clasping column, not fringed with hairs; mid-lobe small, 6-10 x 5-8 mm, margin slightly wavy. Elegant Cymbidium is found in Eastern Himalaya, from Nepal to Bhutan, NE India, Myanmar, China, at altitudes of 1700-2500 m.