Arundina graminifolia (D.Don) Hochr., Bull. New York Bot. Gard. 6 (1910) 270
Basionym: Bletia graminifolia
Rhizome very short. Stems closely spaced, erect, branching with age, to 175 by 0.9 cm, many-leaved. Leaf sheaths tubular, longer than the internodes. Leaves almost linear, narrowed to the apex, to 25 by 2.4 cm, apex pointed, mid-rib prominent below. Inflorescences terminal, racemose, erect, to 40 cm long; peduncle c. 15 cm long, elliptic in cross-section, glabrous, peduncle-scales few, tubular at the base, laxly many-flowered. Floral bracts triangular, tubular at the base, 0.8 cm long, persistent, apex acute, concave. Ovary 2.3 cm long. Flowers resupinated, c. 5.5 cm across, opening in succession, short-lasting. Median sepal narrowly lanceolate, 3.5 by 0.8 cm, apex subacute. Lateral sepals held close together below the lip, turned towards the front, 3.5 by 0.8 cm, mid-ribe outside prominent, apex subacute. Petals oblong, 3.7 by 1.5 cm, convex, apex acute. Lip weakly 3-lobed, 3.7 by 2.8 cm, wavy in front, with two distinct longitudinal ribs and one or three weaker ones; lateral lobes extending beyond the column, triangular, obtuse; mid-lobe rectangular, bilobulate, with an apiculum in the sinus; densely short pubescent inside. Column elongated, slender, straight, 1.8 cm long, on either side of the stigma with a small triangular wing; rostellum large, dentate, convex, along the basal margin with two triangular teeth. Anther cucullate, obtuse, apiculate. Pollinia soft, laterally compressed. Fruit pendulous, cylindrical, pedicellate, opening along 6 valves, 5.5 cm.
(After Smith, 1905, as Arundina speciosa Blume).
Colours: Flower pale pinkish purple, lip in the centre and on the mid-lobe red-purple, on the base of the mid-lobe with a yellow blotch. Column white, pollinia pale yellow.
Habitat: In open, often disturbed places on poor soil in full sun.
Flowering time in the wild: Probably throughout the year.
Distribution: Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, Lesser Sunda Is., ?Moluccas, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka to China, Taiwan, Pacific, naturalized in Fiji and New Guinea.
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (naturalised).
Cultivation: Warm to intermediate growing terrestrial, requires much light and well-drained sandy soil.