• Scientific Name: Phaius flavus (Blume) Lindl.
• Ref: Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl.:128. 1831
• Synonyms:
  • Bletia flava (Blume) Wall. ex Lindl.
  • B. woodfordii Hook.
  • Hecabe lutea Raf.
  • Limodorum crispum Reinw. ex Blume
  • L. flavum Blume
  • Paraphaius flavus (Blume) J.W.Zhai, Z.J.Liu & F.W.Xing
  • Phaius bracteosus Rchb.f.
  • P. celebicus Schltr.
  • P. crispus Blume
  • P. flavus f. punctatus (Ohwi) K.Nakaj.
  • P. flexuosus Blume
  • P. linearifolius Ames
  • P. maculatus Lindl.
  • P. minor Blume
  • P. minor f. punctatus Ohwi
  • P. platychilus Rchb.f.
  • P. somae Hayata
  • P. undulatomarginatus Hayata
  • P. woodfordii (Hook.) Merr.
• English Common Name: yellow flowered phaius, yellow crane orchid, nun’s orchid
• Chinese Common Name: 黄花鹤顶兰 huánghuā hèdǐng∙lán, 斑叶鹤顶兰 bānyè hèdǐng∙lán
• Japanese Common Name: ガンゼキラン [岩石蘭] ganzekiran
• Family: Orchidaceae
• Genus: Phaius
• Distribution: Shaded and humid places in forests; 300-2000 m. N Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, N Hunan, Sichuan, Taiwan, SE Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, NE India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam].
• Photo: 05/09/2019, Hangzhou Botanical Garden, Zhejiang

Plants 40-100 cm tall. Pseudobulb ovoid-conic, 5-10 × 1.5-4 cm. Leaves 4-8, on upper part of pseudobulb; blade normally green with yellow or white spots, ovate-elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, 25-60 × 5-20 cm, glabrous, apex acuminate or acute. Inflorescences arising from basal or lower nodes of pseudobulb, normally not exceeding height of leaves, 50-90 cm, 8-25-flowered, glabrous; floral bracts persistent, ovate-lanceolate, 2.5-4 × 0.5-0.7 cm, glabrous. Flowers not widely opening, 4-7 cm in diam.; pedicel and ovary 2-3 cm, glabrous; sepals and petals pale yellow to mid-yellow, sepals often green tipped, often turning indigo-blue when dried. Sepals subsimilar, oblong-obovate, 2.5-4 × 0.7-1.5 cm, glabrous, apex obtuse to subacute. Petals oblong-elliptic, 2.5-4 × 0.7-1.5 cm, apex obtuse-subacute; lip yellow with orange or brown marks, apical margin brown, obovate, 2.5-4.5 × 2.2-4.5 cm, shallowly 3-lobed; lateral lobes subobovate, margin undulate, apex rounded-truncate; mid-lobe orbicular, undulate-crisped, apex emarginate; disk with 3 or 4 brown ridges, glabrous; spur slightly curved, white, conic, 0.5-0.8 × ca. 0.2 cm, apex obtuse. Column white, 1.5-2 cm, densely white pubescent ventrally; rostellum suborbicular; anther cap white. Fl. Apr-Oct. 2n = 38, 42. (Flora of China)