Terrestrial; stiffly upright plants bear several pleated lanceolate leaves. Underground corms give rise to stems that are about as wide and tall as a standard pencil. Leaves four to six leaves per shoot and grows to less than fifty centimeters tall. Most plants reach about 30 cm (12 inches). Each leaf has a basal portion, the leaf sheath, that encircles the one-centimeter-thick stem. The first leaf of each shoot never forms a recognizable leaf blade, and the second leaf has a small elliptic blade. The dominant leaf form is oblong-lanceolate with an acuminate (pointed) tip. Typically, this blade may grow to twenty or thirty centimeters in length and up to 5.5 centimeters wide. Leaf arrangement is alternate distichous (arranged in two vertical rows). Flowers open successively, typically with 3 or 4 open at a time, and each spike stays in bloom for over a month.

Antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiphlogistic, demulcent, pectoral, skin, styptic and vulnerary (root)

Plants for a Future
Bletilla striata

In the treatment of haemorrhages of the stomach or lungs, uterine bleeding and nose bleeds, applied as a poultice to burns, cuts, abscesses and sores.

Zheng C. Feng G. Zhou R. [New use of Bletilla striata as embolizing agent in the intervention treatment of hepatic carcinoma].