Dendrobium gobiense Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 561; 21 (1923) t. 189, fig. 707.
Type: Schlechter 19851 (holo B, lost).
Rhizome very short, roots elongated, filiform, flexuose, glabrous. Stems crowded, patent, slender, fleshy, up to 100 cm by 6-8 mm, densely many-leaved, unbranched. Leaf sheaths entirely covering the stem. Leaves erect-patent, oblong-elliptic, 10-14 by 3-4.3 cm, apex acuminate. Inflorescences lateral from the stems, racemose, short, head-like, 4-6-flowered. Floral bracts elliptic, much shorter than the ovary, apex obtuse. Ovary 1 cm long, cylindrical, sparsely covered with scale-hairs. Flowers c. 2 cm long, outside sparsely covered with scale-hairs. Dorsal sepal oblong, 1.3 cm long, apex obtuse. Lateral sepals obliquely oblong, much widened at the base, 1.3 cm long, apex obtuse; mentum oblongoid-conical, 0.55 cm long, obtuse. Petals elliptic-spathulate, 1.3 cm long, apex obtuse. Lip broadly obovate in outline, gradually narrowed into a short basal claw, near the middle on either side with a broadly triangular lobule, 1.5 by 0.9 cm, with a longitudinal appressed reflexed bifid appendage as broad as the claw, the appendage with lacerate segments, lip in the centre with 7 thin keels; apical part densely covered with subulate papillae, apex obtuse, minutely obtusely apiculate. Column short, thick, glabrous, clinandrium 2-lobulate, the lobules rounded; column-foot 0.55 cm long, with an elliptic cavity.
(after Schlechter, 1912).
Colours: Flowers outside yellowish, inside white; lip with orange-red keels and brown-red papillae.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lowland forest. Altitude 350 m.
Flowering time in the wild: June.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (Morobe Province: Waria River).
Cultivation: Warm growing epiphyte.