Macodes pulcherrima Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1911) 72
Type: Schlechter 18254 (holo B, lost)
Terrestrial, erect, slender, 35-45 cm high. Rhizome decumbent, stem-like; roots elongated, flexuose, villose. Leaves erect-patent, 2-4, almost rosulate, closely spaced, petiolate; blade broadly elliptic-ovate, acute or subacuminate, glabrous, 3.5-6.5 cm long, below the middle 2.3-4 cm wide; petiole dilated at the base, sheathing, 1.5-2.5 cm long. Peduncle with a few, appressed, distant, bract-like scales, terete, glandulose-puberulous, rachis rather laxly 10-20-flowered, erect, up to 12 cm long. Floral bracts lanceolate, acuminate, glandulose-puberulous, often about half as long as the ovary. Flowers erect-patent, not resupinated. Sepals ovate, obtuse, outside glandulose-puberulous, 0.5 cm long. Lateral sepals somewhat oblique. Petals subfalcate-linear, obtuse, along the basal half of the front margin slightly dilated, glabrous, about as long as the median sepal and adhering to it with their margins. Lip 0.5 cm long, at the base obliquely obovate-cucullate, inside with two calli, 3-lobed; lateral lobes rounded, almost cucullate, of unequal size; mid-lobe oblong-spathulate, 0.2 cm long, obtuse, more than twice as long as the lateral lobes. Column glabrous, slightly twisted, below the stigma with two short, truncate wings. Anther obliquely lanceolate-cucullate, subrostrate. Ovary cylindrical, glandulose-puberulous, 0.8 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Leaves velvety dark green-brown with strongly branched rose-red veins. Flowers brown, lip and column white.
Habitat: Terrestrial in leaf litter under shrubs in lower montane forest; 1200 m.
Flowering time in the wild: September.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 425-15M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing terrestrial, requires shaded position.