Stereochilus hirtus - Hairy Rigid-Lip Orchid

Hairy Rigid-Lip Orchid is a miniature to small sized, tree-dwelling orchid with a short stem carrying, strap-shaped, very thick, straight horizontal leaves. The plant blooms in the late spring on a drooping, 2.5-7.5 cm long, slender, velvet-hairy, raceme with a few, short-lived, hairless flowers. Flowers are 0.8-1.1 cm across; sepals and petals pink; lip white and pink, column white, anther purple; flower-stalk and ovary densely long velvet-hairy, 0.4-1.1 cm long. Dorsal sepal is spreading, ovate to oblong-lanceshaped, blunt, 5-6 x 1.5-2 mm; lateral sepals spreading, ovate, blunt, 4.5-5.5 x 1-3 mm; petals spreading, ovate to sub-spoon-shaped, blunt, rounded toothed, 4-5 x 1.4-1.6 mm. Lip is adnate to column base, 3-lobed, spurred, 4-5 mm long; lateral lobes triangular, converging; mid-lobe oblong-ovate, blunt, concave; spur widely conical, appressed to ovary, 2-callose at entrance, 1.5-2.5 x 1-1.5 mm. Hairy Rigid-Lip Orchid is found in Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Myanmar, at altitudes of 175-700 m.