Liparis major Schltr. in K.Schum. & Lauterb., Nachtr. Fl. Deutsch. Schutzgeb. Südsee (1905) 104
Type: Schlechter 14055 (holo B, lost)
Terrestrial, erect, stout, c. 45 cm high. Pseudobulbs somewhat terete, glabrous, at the base with a few sheaths, 1-leaved at the apex, c. 12 cm long, 0.6 cm diam. Leaf erect-patent, oblong-lanceolate, acute, veined, glabrous, rather thick-textured, articulated, 25 cm long, near the middle c. 3.5 cm wide. Inflorescence erect, somewhat terete, with three distant, lanceolate, acuminate small peduncle-scales; rachis elongated laxly several-flowered, quaquaversal. Floral bracts lanceolate, acuminate, two thirds as long as the ovary. Flowers erect. Median sepal reflexed, oblong-lanceolate, subobtuse, 1.5 cm long, above the base almost 0.3 cm wide. Lateral sepals as long as the median sepal, reflexed, obliquely falcate-lanceolate, subobtuse, below the middle 0.35 cm wide. Petals reflexed, linear-subfalcate, acute, 1-nerved, 1.5 cm long, in the middle hardly more than 0.1 cm wide. Lip at the base cuneate, ascending, broadly ovate, acuminate, porrect, with very minutely serrulate margins and with two median keels extending from the base to the apex. Column for the size of the flowers very small, rather thick, 0.5 cm long, straight. Anther subreniform, in front somewhat narrowed, broadly obtuse. Ovary glabrous, 1.3 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1905)
Colours: Flowers green.
Habitat: Terrestrial in montane forest; 1500 m.
Flowering time in the wild: January.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 416-285M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing terrestrial, requires shaded position.