Habenaria dracaenifolia Schltr. in K.Schum. & Lauterb., Nachtr. Fl. Deutsch. Schutzgeb. Südsee (1905) 77
Type: Schlechter 14336 (holo B, lost)
Subterranean tuber oblong. Stem erect, 90 cm long, leafless in basal part, with several leaves arranged in a rosette above the middle. Leaves lanceolate, erect-patent to patent, 15-20 by 3-3.5 cm, apex acuminate. Inflorescence racemose; rachis 15 cm long, rather densely several to many-flowered. Floral bracts lanceolate, erect-patent, the lower ones longer than the ovary, the upper ones a little shorter than the ovary, apex acuminate. Pedicel and ovary 2.5 cm long, fusiform, glabrous. Flowers resupinated, c. 2 cm wide. Dorsal sepal ovate, 1.2 cm long, concave, apex acuminate. Lateral sepals obliquely ovate, deflexed, about as long as the median sepal, apex acuminate. Petals deeply bilobulate, upper lobule linear, 1.2 cm long, acute, adhering to the margin of the median sepal, lower lobule filiform, 2.2 cm long, ascending. Lip 3-lobed, spurred; lateral lobes filiform, 2.2 cm long; mid-lobe narrowly linear, 1.2 cm long, acute; spur cylindric, slightly thickened in apical half, about 2/3 as long as the ovary. Column with small, obtuse rostellum, stigmatophores oblong, obtuse, hardly longer than the anther channels. Anther channels cylindric. (After Schlechter, 1905).
Colours: Not recorded.
Habitat: Terrestrial in lower montane forest. Altitude 800-1000 m.
Flowering time in the wild: April, May.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea. See map: 347-165M.JPG
Cultivation: Warm-intermediate growing terrestrial, requires shaded position.