Dendrobium alticola Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 595; 21 (1928) t. 199, fig. 748.
Type: Schlechter 18732 (holo B, lost).
Rhizome very short, roots elongated, filiform, flexuose, glabrous. Stems crowded, erect to patent, rigid, 40-50 cm by 3-4 mm, many-leaved, unbranched. Leaf sheaths entirely covering the stem. Leaves erect-patent, elliptic, 3-5 by 1.3-2.3 cm, apex obtusely and unequally bilobulate. Inflorescences arising laterally from the stem, peduncle hardly developed, 2-flowered, spathe laterally compressed, very short, obtuse. Ovary 0.8 cm long, subsessile, cylindrical, glabrous. Flowers c. 4 cm across. Sepals outside near the apex sparsely verruculose. Dorsal sepal oblong, 2 cm long, apex obtuse. Lateral sepals obliquely oblong, a little widened at the base, 2 cm long, apex obtuse; mentum short, obtuse. Petals obliquely spathulate-ligulate, a little shorter than the sepals, sparsely verruculose near the apex, apex obtuse. Lip oblong-pandurate, contracted below the middle, 0.9 by 0.45 cm, in basal half with spreading thickened veins, with a tall basal keel extending to near the middle. Column short, clinandrium 3-lobulate, lateral lobules obliquely rhombic, subdentate, the median tooth-like; column-foot incurved, below the apex with a small callus. Anther quadrangular-cucullate, glabrous.
(after Schlechter, 1912).
Colours: Flower whitish with red dots, the column foot with a red spot and a red callus.
Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest. Altitude 2400 m.
Flowering time in the wild: November.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (Eastern Highlands Province).
Cultivation: Cool growing epiphyte.