Octarrhena vitellina (Ridl.) Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 58 (1923) 148
Basionym: Phreatia vitellina
Stems 5-20 cm long, covered with sheathing cataphylls. Leaves carnose, linear, obtuse, 3 by 0.1 cm, curved; sheaths somewhat compressed, 0.5-1 cm long; leaf-scar elliptic. Inflorescences axillary, 2-2.5 cm long, pedunculate at the base, with the flowers turned to all sides; peduncle scales lanceolate, acuminate, cuspidate in apical 0.1 cm. Floral bracts lanceolate, acuminate, almost as long as the pedicel with ovary. Median sepal lanceolate, acute, narrow. Lateral sepals much wider, ovate. Petals lanceolate, obtuse, much narrower than the median sepal. Lip not clawed, narrow, linear, obtuse, at the apex curved upwards, with raised margins. Column with distinct truncate stelidia. Ovary with pedicel 0.5 cm long. (After Ridley, 1916)
Colours: Flowers deep orange-yellow.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest; 759 to 1669 m.
Flowering time in the wild: Not recorded.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia). See map: 486-57M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.