Erythrorchis altissima (Blume) Blume 1837

Erythrorchis altissima was first described by Blume (1825) in a very short paragraph as Cyrtosia altissima. Blume (1837) himself transfered it later to the genus Erythrorchis and added a formal description. The typelocation of the species is located in the Western provinces of Java, which mark a southern boundary of the distribution how we know it today. Erythrorchis altissima grows in secondary lower montane forests, climbing tall trees at elevations of ca. 300 to 900 meters (Pfahl 2021) and can be found from Japan to Taiwan, Vietnam, Bangladesh and includes many islands of the Phillipines, Malaysia and western Indonesia (POWO 2021). This plant forms small, up to 1,5 cm big, white to yellowish flowers (Chen et al. 2009). Garay (1986) sees in Erythrorchis ochobiensis due to the "rather slender to almost filiform fruits, in addition to the mutually exclusive distribution pattern" a separate species. Merckx 2013 also acknowledges E. ochobiensis as a species. Furthermore Umata (1995, 1997, 1998) studied the mycorrhizal partners of E. ochobiensis that are comprised of a wide range of wood-rotting and ectomycorrhizal fungi species.