Cremastra appendiculata - Warty Lip Cremastra

Warty Lip Cremastra is a medium sized, cool to cold growing terrestrial orchid with a single, pleated, elliptic-lanceshaped, 20-40 cm long leaf, that is pointed at tip, gradually narrowing below into the elongate, stalked base. The plant blooms in the spring on a round, erect, 30-50 cm long, 3-30 flowered raceme with narrow flowers. Flowers are fragrant, drooping, not opening widely, pale purple to orange-brown, narrowly bell-shaped, petals and lip with darker spots. Flower-stalk and ovary 5-15 mm. Sepals are narrowly inverted-lanceshaped-spoon-shaped, 20-34 x 2-5 mm, tip pointed or tapering; lateral sepals slightly oblique. Petals are narrowly inverted-lanceshaped, 18-32 x 1.5-3.5 mm, tip tapering; lip linear, 20-34 x 2-3.5 mm, sac-like at base, 3-lobed at tip; lateral lobes linear to narrowly oblong, 4-6 x about 1 mm, tip blunt; mid-lobe ovate to narrowly oblong, 6-8 x 3-5 mm, tip pointed or blunt; disk with a fleshy callus at base of mid-lobe; callus variable in shape and size, 1-5 mm, sparingly wrinkled or verruculose. Column is 1.8-2.6 cm, slender, slightly dilated at tip. Capsules are drooping, ellipsoid, 2.5-3 x 0.8-1.3 cm. Warty Lip Cremastra is found in Central Himalaya to NE India and SE Asia, at altitudes of 400-2900 m. Flowering: May-June.