1348

 Rhynchostylis retusa (L.) Blume

Synonym	:	Sarcanthus guttatus Lindl
Family	:	Orchidaceae
Local name	:	English – Fox tail orchid
Flowering and fruiting period	:	January-May
Distribution	:	India: Assam
Distribution in kerala	:	Wayanad, Ernakulam, Palakkad, Kottayam
Habitat	:	Moist deciduous forests, also in sacred groves
Uses	:	plant were used against asthma and tuberculosis and for 'nervous twitchings'
Key Botanical Characters  : Epiphytes, to 40 cm tall; stems stout, woody. Leaves to 30 x 2 cm, lorate, obliquely bilobed at apex with a mucro in between, lobules rounded. Flowers violet pink, closely packed in 30-40 cm long, stout, compact, pendulous axillary raceme; sepals and petals similar; dorsal sepal ovate or ovate-oblong, obtuse; lateral sepals 8 x 7 mm, obliquely ovate, subacute; petals 6 x 3 mm, oblong-ovate, obtuse; lip entire, oblong, pink; clawed; claw deflexed, deeply inflexed, cuneiform; disc 2-lobed; spur 5 mm long, laterally compressed, tip emarginate; puberulus inside; column short; foot very short; pollinia 2, globose, with long caudicle.