Microtatorchis rhomboglossa Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1913) 1000
Type: Schlechter 17162 (holo B, lost)
Epiphytic, very small, c. 2 cm high. Roots filiform, glabrous. Leaves apparently usually absent at anthesis, oblanceolate-ligulate, 0.5-0.8 cm long, above the middle 0.2 cm wide. Inflorescence gradually elongated, rather laxly several-flowered, up to 2.5 cm long. Floral bracts deltoid, obtuse, distinctly shorter than the ovary. Flowers minute, glabrous. Sepals and petals to above the middle connate into a bell-shaped tube. Sepals oblong, obtuse, c. 0.18 cm long. Petals with obliquely broadly ovate free part, obtuse, a little shorter than the sepals. Lip at the base cuneate, broadly rhombic, obtuse, with thickened incurved apical margins, as long as the petals; spur subglobose, broadly obtuse, apex subretuse, slightly more than a third as long as the lip. Ovary subsessile, cylindrical, c. 0.2 cm long, glabrous. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Flowers green.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest; 1000 m.
Flowering time in the wild: January.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 449-41M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.