Liparis gibbosa Finet, Bull. Soc. Bot. France 55 (1908) 842
Type: Blume (Kuhl & van Hasselt) 2214 (Java) (holo P; iso L, probable)
Rhizome 0.15 cm diam., creeping, terete. Pseudobulbs 1.5-2.5 cm apart, 1-leaved, obliquely ovoid, strongly compressed, 1.2 by 0.95 cm. Leaf sheaths 1.4 cm long, conduplicate. Leaves erect, linear, 20 by 0.8 cm, coriaceous, keeled below, apex apiculate. Inflorescence erect, to 18 cm long; peduncle 14 cm long, 0.15 cm diam., laterally compressed, ancipitous; rachis laterally compressed, somewhat nodding, densely many-flowered, with the flowers opening in succession. Floral bracts oblong, sharply conduplicate, 0.55 cm long, apex acute, keeled. Pedicel and ovary 1.1 cm long. Median sepal oblong, 0.6 by 0.25 cm, somewhat convex, apex subacute. Lateral sepals obliquely ovate, 0.6 by 0.35 cm, slightly keeled outside. Petals erect, lanceolate, subspathulate, 0.55 by 0.15 cm. Lip 4-lobed, 0.35 by 0.35 cm, the lobes strongly convex, the two apical lobes smaller than the basal ones, with a small, triangular, recurved tooth in between, at the base with two convex calli. Column dorsally compressed, ovate-deltoid, with a dorsal longitudinal rib, 0.3 cm long, 0.27 cm wide, in front on each side of the stigma with two small, parallel, vertical, triangular lamellae, stigma 4-angled with raised lower margin. Anther suborbicular. Pollinia triangular. (After Smith, 1905, as Liparis disticha auct. non Lindl.)
Colours: Flowers brown or reddish, lip red-brown.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest; 1300 m.
Flowering time in the wild: March.
Distribution: Malesia (Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, ?New Guinea), Thailand, Laos, Sri Lanka, Burma, Solomon Is., Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa.
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia). See map: 416-186M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.
Notes: There are in New Guinea numerous very closely related species that seem to form a very difficult complex. The occurence of the 'real' Liparis gibbosa requires confirmation.