Diplocaulobium savannicola (Schltr.) A.D.Hawkes, Lloydia 20 (1957) 129.
Basionym: Dendrobium savannicola.
Rhizome to 15 cm long, creeping, roots elongated, filiform, flexuose, glabrous. Pseudobulbs closely spaced, 1-leaved, compressed, ovoid to broadly ellipsoid, 4-angled, 0.7-1.2 by 0.6-0.9 cm. Leaves ligulate, 1.7-3 by 0.4-0.8 cm, apex obtuse, minutely bilobulate, coriaceous. Inflorescences arising in succession from the apex of the pseudobulb, 1-flowered; spathe laterally compressed, c. 6 mm long. Pedicel and ovary 1 cm long, slender, subclavate, glabrous. Flower resupinate, c. 2.5 cm across. Dorsal sepal lanceolate, narrowed to the apex, 1.3 cm long, apex acute. Lateral sepals obliquely lanceolate, widened to the base, 1.3 cm long, apex acute; mentum conical, c. 4 mm long, obtuse. Petals obliquely linear, slightly widened to the base, 1.3 cm long, apex acute; glabrous. Lip 3-lobed below the middle, 1.3 by 0.3 cm, oblong at the base, with 3 keels, extending from the base to over halfway the midlobe, the lateral keels almost parallel in basal half, dilated towards the midlobe, at the base of the midlobe undulate, then slightly diverging, the median keel straight, in basal half minutely pubescent; lateral lobes short, triangular, subacute; midlobe elliptic, narrowed to the base, margins slightly undulate, apiculate. Column short, glabrous, clinandrium 3-lobulate, the lateral lobules bidentate, the median tooth-like, equally long; column-foot c. 4 mm long. Anther subquadrate-cucullate, truncate in front, at the back with two humps, glabrous.
(after Schlechter, 1912).
Colours: Flowers pale yellow, lip in basal half with carmine-red margins.
Habitat: Epiphyte in savannah woodland. Altitude 200 to 300 m.
Flowering time in the wild: September, November.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (Madang and Morobe Provinces).
Cultivation: Warm growing epiphyte, requires dry resting period.