"Roscoea cautleyoides is a perennial herbaceous plant which occurs in pine forests, low scrub, meadows, and grasslands, between 2,000 and 3,500 metres in the Sichuan and Yunnan provinces of China.
Like all members of the genus Roscoea, it dies back each year to a short vertical rhizome, to which are attached the tuberous roots. When growth begins again, "pseudostems" are produced: structures which resemble stems but are actually formed from the tightly wrapped bases (sheaths) of its leaves. R. cautleyoides is usually 15–40 cm tall (occasionally up to 60 cm), with three or four leaves. Each leaf has a small ligule, extending to about 1 mm. The blade of the leaf (the part free from the pseudostem) is usually 5–15 cm long (occasionally up to 40 long) by 1.5–3 cm wide. The leaf sheath is smooth (glabrous) or hairy (pubescent), with hairs which are more-or-less bent over (appressed). The lower part of the leaf blade is similar; the upper part is scaly.
In its native habitats, R. cautleyoides flowers between May and August. The flower spike emerges somewhat from the leaf sheaths. One or more flowers open together and may be of various colours: purple, yellow, white or less often pale pink. Green bracts, 4–6 cm long, with brownish veins, subtend the flowers."
Taken from wikipedia's page at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R...
