Androcorys pugioniformis

        Basionym is Herminium pugioniformis Lindley ex Hooker f., 1890, published in Flora of British India 6: 130. 1890. A synonym is Herminium nivale Schlechter, 1924, published in Särtyk ur Meddelanden från Göteborgs Botaniska Trädgård (Acta Horti Gothoburgensis) 1: 134. 1924; based on a type collected above the Huanglong valley by H. Smith July 21s t 1922.

        Another synonym could be Porolabium biporosum (Maximowicz) T. Tang & F.T. Wang, 1940, published in Bulletin of the Fan Memorial Institute of Biology 10: 38. 1940.

        Androcorys pugioniformis was recorded from Huanglong by Schlechter in 1924 as Herminium nivale but hasn’t been seen in the park yet by the authors. Harry Smith found it in scree above the Huanglong valley at an altitude of perhaps 4000-4100 m (his published altitude of 4800-5000 m is likely 700 m too high). The Flora of China reports the species from coniferous forests, alpine thickets and meadows at altitudes between 3400-5200 m from eastern to southern Qinghai, northwestern Sichuan, Tibet and northwestern Yunnan. The plant carries a single leaf, is 5.5-18 cm high and has uniformly green flowers with a diameter of 2.5-3 mm. Pearce and Cribb (2002) report that A. pugioniformis resembles Porolabium biporosum (Maximovicz) T. Tang & F.T. Wang, 1940. In their publication of the genus Tang & Wang note that Porolabium differs from Herminium by the stigma which is not attached to the processes of the rostellum, but otherwise very similar to Herminium and Androcorys. The German orchidologists Ursula and Dietrich Rueckbrodt recorded Porolabium cf. biporosum from Jiuzhaigou at June 19, 1999, where it grew at approx. 2900 m in dense shrub. Further investigations in the field and in herbaria are necessary to clarify matters.

        Flowering: July-August (June).

        植株高5.5-18厘米。块茎圆球形，肉质，直径6-10毫米。茎直立或近直立，纤细或较粗壮，无毛，基部具1-2枚筒状鞘，近基部具1枚叶。叶片长圆状倒披针形、长圆形、狭椭圆形至椭圆形，长2-4厘米，宽4-12毫米，先端钝或急尖，基部渐狭并抱茎。总状花序具3-10余朵花，长0.8-2.5厘米；花苞片小，宽卵形，先端锐尖，较子房短很多；子房纺锤形，扭转，无毛，连花梗长4-5毫米；花小，绿色；中萼片卵形或卵圆形，直立，凹陷，长1.5毫米，宽1-1.2毫米，先端钝，边缘全缘，具1脉，与花瓣靠合成兜状；侧萼片反折，斜卵状椭圆形至镰状长圆形，长1.7-2.2毫米，宽1-1.2毫米，先端钝，边缘全缘，具1脉；花瓣直立，斜卵形至长圆状卵形，凹陷呈舟状，长1.3-1.5毫米，宽0.5-0.8毫米，边缘全缘，先端钝或略尖，具1脉；唇瓣反折，肉质，线状长圆形，近直的，先端钝，基部明显扩大，呈剑状或匕首状，长1.7-2.5毫米，基部宽0.1-1毫米，无距；蕊柱短；花药直立，药隔宽，宽0.6毫米，呈兜状；花粉团椭圆形，具短的花粉团柄，粘盘椭圆形；柱头2个，隆起，具柄。花期8-9月。

        产于青海东部至南部、西藏（达孜）、云南（中甸）、四川（松潘、黄龙寺）。生于海拔3380-5200米的冷杉林下或高山灌丛及草甸中。