Hetaeria affinis - Reddish Hetaeria

Reddish Hetaeria is a small to medium sized, terrestrial orchid with a leafy, hairless stem carrying ovate-elliptic, more or less oblique to nearly pointed, 5 veined, narrowing below into the stalked base leaves. The plant blooms in the winter on a finely velvet-hairy becoming glandular-velvet-hairy, erect, 8-16 cm long, densely many flowered inflorescnece with 3 to 5 distant, clasping, lanceshaped, tapering bracts and has lanceshaped, tapering, finely velvet-hairy, shorter than the ovary floral bracts. Flowers open slightly, are small; ovary and flower-stalk almost cylindric, not twisted, 8-9 mm, densely glandular velvet-hairy. Sepals are green, upper tip tinged with pink, outer surface densely glandular velvet-hairy; dorsal sepal broadly ovate, boat-shaped, about 5 x 3.5 mm, 3-veined, tip blunt to pointed; lateral sepals broadly ovate, concave, slightly oblique, about 4.2 x 3.2 mm, 1-veined, tip blunt. Petals are white, obliquely spoon-shaped, about 4.5 x 1.6 mm, 1-veined, tip slightly with a short sharp point. Lip is lageniform-ovate, about 3.5 mm, 2-partite. Reddish Hetaeria is found in Bhutan, NE India, N Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, China, at altitudes of 800-1000 m. Flowering: March-April.