Dendrobium nephrolepidis Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 608; 21 (1928) t. 205, fig. 771.
Type: Schlechter 19987 (holo B, lost).
Rhizome very short, roots elongated, filiform, flexuose, glabrous. Stems crowded, subpatent, unbranched, terete, slender, 100 cm by 2.5-3 mm, very densely many-leaved. Leaf sheaths 0.25-0.3 cm wide, entirely covering the stem. Leaves patent, elliptic-ligulate, narrowing to the apex, 2.5-3.5 by 0.8-1.2 cm, apex obtuse. Inflorescences arising seemingly from the leaf axils, 2-flowered, spathe laterally compressed, semiorbicular, obtuse. Pedicel and ovary 1.7 cm long, slender, glabrous. Flowers c. 2 cm across. Dorsal sepal oblong, 1.1 cm long, apex obtuse. Lateral sepals obliquely oblong, much widened at the base, 1.1 cm long, apex obtuse; mentum 0.5 cm long, obtuse. Petals obliquely elliptic, a little shorter than the sepals, apex obtuse. Lip 3-lobed above the middle, 0.8 by 0.45 cm, semioblong at the base, with a basal keel extending to the base of the midlobe, upper surface of midlobe minutely papillose; lateral lobes obliquely oblong, margins subirregular, obtuse; midlobe almost twice as large, 0.35 cm wide, orbicular, margin subirregular, broadly and obtusely apiculate. Column short, rather thick, clinandrium 3-lobulate, the lateral lobules rounded, the median small, tooth-like; column-foot incurved, 0.5 cm long. Anther quadrate-cucullate, in front subretuse, glabrous.
(after Schlechter, 1912).
Colours: Flower greenish white, lip greenish, column-foot with violet markings and orange-yellow apex.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lowland forest. Altitude 15 m.
Flowering time in the wild: August.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (Sandaun Province).
Map: NEPHRMAP.JPG [Dendrobium nephrolepidis Schltr., distribution map.]
Cultivation: Warm growing epiphyte.