Three new species of (Orchidaceae: Malaxideae) from Southwest China based on morphological characters and phylogenetic evidence.

and , two new species from the karst region of southwestern China, and , a new species from montane region in Yunnan, are described and illustrated. is easily distinguished from its relatives by having abaxially purple leave with purple reticulate veins prominent adaxially, a lip auriculate at base, and falcate-lanceolate pollinia. is closely related to and but differs from them by having an ovate to broadly ovate leaf, purple lip and apex connate along the margins. is similar to , but the new species is characterized by having a lip with two transparent ridges on its disc, longitudinally concave basal callus and triangular column wings. Phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear ribosomal ITS and plastid sequences showed that and are nested with or in a monophyletic clade. is sister to a clade formed by and Moreover, morphological comparisons strongly support that the three species as separated species newly to science.