Dendrobium latelabellatum

Dendrobium latelabellatum Gilli, Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien 84, B (1980 publ. 1983) 27, fig. 15.

Type: Gilli 502 (holo W).

Stems erect, thick, terete, grooved, unbranched, to more than 50 cm long. Leaf sheaths glabrous. Leaves erect-patent, broadly lanceolate, 4-6.5 by 1.5-2 cm, apex oblique, subacute. Inflorescences lateral, racemose, peduncle 1.5-3 cm long, rachis 2-3 cm long, 3-7-flowered. Floral bracts ovate-lanceolate, 0.2-0.4 cm long. Pedicel and ovary 0.5-1 cm long, glabrous. Flowers 1 cm long. Dorsal sepal broadly ovate-lanceolate, 1 cm long, apex obtuse. Lateral sepals oblique; mentum conical, 0.2-0.4 cm long, obtuse. Petals lanceolate, almost as long as the sepals, apex subacute. Lip broadly rhombic-ovate, obscurely 3-lobed, 1 by 1.2 cm, with 2 subparallel basal keels, lateral lobes subtriangular to subsemiorbicular, midlobe 3-lobulate, the lateral lobules much larger than the very short rounded median lobule. Column short and thick.
(after Gilli).

Colours: Sepals and petals green, lip yellowish white. Column outside yellowish white, inside black.

Habitat: In montane grassland.

Flowering time in the wild: February.

Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (Enga Province).

Notes: The published description and illustration of this species are exceptionally poor and probably misleading.

Cultivation: Cool growing terrestrial, prefers light position.

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