Herminium lanceum (Thunb. ex Sw.) Vuijk, Blumea 11 (1961) 228
Basionym: Ophrys lancea
Tuber present. Stem terete, 0.4 cm, 3-4-leaved. Leaves distant, linear, 1.25 cm wide, upwards passing into the peduncle scales, apex pointed. Inflorescences racemose, stiff, narrow, glabrous; rachis 27.5 cm long, many-flowered. Floral bracts appressed, lanceolate-sublate, 1 cm long, apex pointed, concave. Ovary 0.5 cm long, erect, appressed to the rachis, with patent apex. Median sepal elliptic, 0.27 by 0.17 cm, concave, 1-nerved, apex rounded. Lateral sepals obliquely oblong, 0.3 by 0.16 cm, concave, 1-nerved, apex obtuse. Petals lanceolate, subfalcate, 0.23 by 0.07 cm, 1-nerved, apex subacute. Lip 3-lobed at the apex, 0.48 by 0.27 cm, not spurred; lateral lobes divergent, linear, 0.17 cm long, obtuse; mid-lobe small, triangular, obtuse; at the base shortly adnate to the column, concave with erect margins, 3-nerved. Column very short, porrect, stigma-lobes separate, close together, flat. Anther short, thecae close together. Pollinia pear-shaped, caudicles very short. (After Smith, 1905, as Herminium angustifolium (Lindl.) Benth. & Hook.f.).
Colours: Flower green.
Habitat: Terrestrial in montane grassland on poor soil, often where seasonally dry.
Flowering time in the wild: Not known
Distribution: Tropical continental Asia, China, Korea, Japan, Peninsular Malaysia, Java, Celebes, Lesser Sunda Islands, New Guinea, the Philippines.
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea.
Cultivation: Cool growing terrestrial, requires light position and a rather mineral soil.