Eria atrorubens Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 665
Type: Schlechter 20094 (holo B, lost)
Epiphyte, decumbent, up to 35 cm long; rhizome decumbent, somewhat thickened, covered with overlapping sheaths; roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, minutely papillose; pseudobulbs 3-4.5 cm apart, cylindrical, covered with large, clasping sheaths, usually 3-leaved at apex, 5-7 cm high, near the middle 0.6-1 cm diameter; leaves erect-patent or suberect, linear or linear-ligulate, acute, gradually petiolate-narrowed towards the base, 16-22 cm long, near the middle 0.9-1.5 cm wide; Inflorescence short arising laterally near the apex of the pseudobulbs, shortly pedunculate, rather densely 4-8-flowered; bracts broadly elliptic, obtuse, almost as long as the ovary. Flowers erect-patent. Sepals oblong, obtuse, outside sparsely stellate-puberulous, 0.8 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique, at the base dilated along the front margins, mentum obtuse, 0.3 cm long. Petals obliquely elliptic, obtuse, glabrous, somewhat shorter than the sepals. Lip at the base oblong-cuneate, in apical third 3-lobed, 0.7 cm long, between the apices of the lateral lobes 0.55 cm wide, at the base with a narrow, minutely papillose keel extending to the base of the mid-lobe, with two lateral, minutely granulose-papillose, apiculate lamellae which are somewhat dilated towards the apex, lateral lobes triangular obtuse, somewhat divergent, mid-lobe semiorbicular, obtuse, larger than the lateral lobes, covered with a large, reniform-cordate, densely granulose-papillose callus. Column short, glabrous, column-foot somewhat concave, lobes of the clinandrium low. Anther trapezoid-cucullate, in front truncate, dorsally notched, thickly umbonate. Ovary sessile, stellate-finely tomentose, 0.4 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Flower dark purple.
Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest. Altitude 900-2300 m.
Flowering time in the wild: June, September.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea. See map: 282-40M.JPG
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.