Abstract: Panisea, a small orchid genus of about nine species known, is confined to the northern parts of tropical Asia, mostly to Indochina and the Himalayas.In China, the first record of this genus was in 1924 by R. Schlechter, who published a new species from Guizhou Province. It was not until 1976 that another species, P.bia, was reported from Yunnan Province (Iconographia Cormophytorum Sinicorurn V). However, the second one is in fact quite different from true P.bia of Laos, as proyed by a comparison with the type specimen (Kerr 0971) at Kew. Instead it is an undescribed species. In addition, in the preparation of an account of the genus Panisea for the forthcoming "Orchid Flora of China", two more species, including a new one, are detected. Thus,there are now altogether four species in China.

Key words: Orchid, genus, panisea, China