Chamaegastrodia vaginata (Hooker f.) Seidenfaden 1994

Chamaegastrodia vaginata was first described by Hooker f. (1890) as Aphyllorchis vaginata from an altitude of 5.000 ft (ca. 1.500 m) in Khasia Hills, India. Seidenfaden (1994) synonymized this species with Spiranthes exigua which was described by Rolfe (1896) from Hubei (Hupeh), China and proposed the today accepted name Chamaegastrodia vaginata (WCSP 2021). This proposal is not accepted by Dr. Garay (Seidenfaden 1994) who sees differences in the relative length of the sheaths and internodes of the stem and in the shape of the petals. Furthermore Garay suggests A. vaginata to be a peloric form of Chamaegastrodia asraoa (today: Odontochilus asraoa). If this turns out to be the case the validity of Chamaegastrodia as an independant genus is questionable (efloras 2021). Maekawa (1971) on the other hand, notes that Spiranthes exigua is most likely identical to Chamaegastrodia shikokiana, the resulting name C. exigua is denied by Seidenfaden (1994). Seidenfaden (1994) is not free of doubts of his classification and stresses that further analysis of similar plants from this region are necessary. C. vaginata differs from all other species of this genus in having a simple lip. The flowers of this 4 to 6 cm small plant are dingy red. It can be found in altitudes from 1.000 to 1.600 m in the before mentioned areas and Sichuan (POWO 2021).