Conservation: Known only from 4 collections
from the type locality and a nearby locality within the
same subdistrict. The area is in Bang Lang National
Park; it is well protected, but its flora is still poorly
known.
Ecology: Mycoheterotrophic, apparently restricted
to tropical rain forest at 500-700 m alt. Flowering:
February-September.
Notes: The new species seems morphologically
closest to L. malaccensis from Thailand, Malaysia and
Sumatra. However, it differs from the latter species in
having larger sepals and petals, and in its labellum
being completely free from the column. Indeed, the lack
of any fusion between the labellum and the column
readily distinguishes L. betongensis from all other
species of the genus. The combination of semicircular
column wings and a labellum with an odd number of
major veins (but devoid of calli) places the new species
in sect. Lecanorchis as morphologically defined by
Hashimoto (1990). However, the entire or only
obscurely 3-lobed condition of the labellum in L.
betongensis is not typical of sect. Lecanorch