Glomera polychaete (Schltr.) J.J.Sm., Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, sér. 2, 8 (1912) 12
Basionym: Glossorhyncha polychaete
Epiphyte, erect, somewhat rigid, 15-20 cm high; rhizome short, sometimes somewhat decumbent; roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, glabrous; stems more or less branched, thinly terete, densely leafy, entirely covered by the leaf-sheaths; leaves erect-patent, linear or ligulate-linear, apex oblique, subacute, at the base subpetiolate-narrowed, glabrous, thickly carnose, 2.5-5 cm long, near the middle 0.2-0.35 cm wide; sheaths closely appressed, with somewhat thickened verruculose nerves, apical margins densely fimbriate-ciliate with many small setae. Flowers solitary, glabrous. Spathe broadly elliptic, acuminate, outside muricate-papillose, clasping. Floral bract hyaline, shorter than the ovary. Sepals oblong, apiculate, 0.85 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique, at the base dilated along the front margins, decurrent. Petals obliquely oblong-spathulate, obtuse, as long as the sepals. Lip broadly obovate, in front abruptly submucronulate-apiculate, 0.45 cm long, above the middle 0.35 cm wide, spur oblongoid-quadrate, broadly obtuse, 0.25 cm long, 0.2 cm wide. Column short, about a third as long as the lip, clinandrium 3-lobed, lateral lobes short, median lobe larger, triangular, irregularly crenulate. Ovary cylindrical, glabrous, 0.6 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914, as Glossorhyncha polychaete Schltr.)
Colours: Flower white, tip of lip deep black.
Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest. Altitude 1300 m.
Flowering time in the wild: May.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 322-107M.JPG
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.