Liparis graciliscapa Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1911) 211
Type: Schlechter 16807 (holo B, lost; iso L, NSW, S); para: 19189 (K, MO); 19417 (L, S); 19753 (L, S)
Epiphytic, very slender, long creeping, 20-30 cm high. Rhizome strongly elongated, decumbent, branching, covered with sheaths; roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, glabrous. Pseudobulbs 2-5 cm apart, at the base subglobose, abruptly narrowed into a stem-like neck, 1-leaved, 2.5-4 cm long, the basal part 0.7-1 cm diam. Leaves erect, linear or linear-ligulate, apiculate, gradually narrowed towards the base, glabrous, 13-22 cm long, at or above the middle 0.7-1 cm wide. Inflorescence erect, very slender, ancipitous, without peduncle-scales, glabrous, almost half as long as the leaf; rachis distichous, densely several- to many-flowered, up to 5 cm long. Floral bracts erect-patent, almost overlapping, ovate-lanceolate, acute, laterally compressed, slightly more than half as long as the pedicellate, ovary. Flowers erect-patent. Sepals reflexed, ovate-lanceolate, subacute or apiculate, glabrous, c. 0.4 long. Later sepals somewhat wider than the median sepal, oblique. Petals reflexed, obliquely linear, acute or subacuminate, glabrous, almost as large as the sepals. Lip at the base geniculate-decurved, ovate, as long as the petals, below the middle hardly more than 0.25 cm wide, apiculate, in the middle indistinctly 3-lobed, at the base with a large, quadrate, obtusely apiculate, in front hollowed out callus, near the base with two small, broadly conical, obtuse outgrowths. Column slightly curved, relatively slender, near the stigma with semiquadrate auricles, at the base not dilated, glabrous, c. 0.23 cm long. Anther ovate-cucullate, obtuse, glabrous. Ovary and pedicel slender, glabrous, c. 1 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Flowers brownish olive-green, column red-brown.
Habitat: Epiphyte in hill and lower montane forest; 450 to 1000 m.
Flowering time in the wild: January, May, June, November.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 416-196M.JPG.
Cultivation: Warm to intermediate growing epiphyte.