FoI
Himalayan Galearis
Share Foto info
Himalayan Galearis
ative Photo: Thingnam Girija
Common name: Himalayan Galearis
Botanical name: Galearis spathulata    Family: Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Synonyms: Galeorchis spathulata, Orchis spathulata

Himalayan Galearis is a terrestrial orchid with flowers white or dark purple, borne on a short stem with usually a single leaf at the base. Flowers are about 1.2 cm across, lip broadly elliptic, entire or obscurely 3-lobed, as long as the sepals and with many shallow longitudinal grooves. Spur is cylindrical, stout and nearly half as long as the ovary. Sepals are unequal, the dorsal one ovate, forming a hood with the petals, the lateral ones spreading. Bracts are leafy, as long or longer than the flowers. Leaf is blunt, fleshy, elliptic-oblong, stalked, 2.5-5.7 cm. Stem is angled, 5-20 cm tall. Himalayan Galearis is found in the Himalayas, from Uttarakhand to Bhutan, at altitudes of 3000-4300 m. Flowering: June-July.

Identification credit: Nongthombam Ullysess Photographed in Yumthang Valley, Sikkim.

• Is this flower misidentified? If yes,