Bulbophyllum antennatum Schltr. in K.Schum. & Lauterb., Nachtr. Fl. Deutsch. Schutzgeb. Südsee (1905) 196
Type: Schlechter 14042 (holo B, lost); neo Jongejan 1228 (L)
Rhizome creeping, 1.5-6 mm diam. Roots spreading. Pseudobulbs discoid to ovoid, 0.8-6 cm apart, 0.15-0.6 by 0.2-0.4 cm, not laterally flattened. Petiole 7-25 mm. Leaf blade elliptic to obovate, 3.8-9 by 0.7-3.5 cm, index 1.8-6, tip rounded. Inflorescence usually single, 12-60 cm, up to c. 100-flowered. Peduncle 11.5-35 cm, sometimes verrucose towards the tip; bracts 4-5, the longest 4-7 mm. Rachis erect, arching or nodding, up to 13 cm, verrucose or not. Floral bracts (slightly) cymbiform, elliptic to obovate, 4.510 mm, tip acute to acuminate; margins finely papillose; abx. with a distinct, sometimes erose median keel. Pedicel and ovary 10-12 mm, with the node 4-5 mm from the floral bract. Flowers in 3 rows, 1 open at the time, moderately opening. Median sepal elliptic to obovate, 6-10 by 2.2-3.2 mm, index 2.6-3.5, tip an incurved to recurved, subulate projection c. 1 mm long, ending in a thickened, sometimes papillose knob; margins ciliate; thin; surface glabrous. Lateral sepals obliquely obovate, 3.5-5 by 2.5-3 mm, index 1.62, tip an incurved, subulate projection; upper margin finely erose, lower ciliate; otherwise as the median sepal. Petals triangular, 2-3.2 by 0.2-0.3 mm, index 10-15, tip acute; thin; margins and surface ciliate towards the tip. Lip 3-lobed, median lobe approx. straight, general outline spathulate, 4-5.5 by 1-1.8 mm, index 2.8-5.5 (not spread), tip rounded to emarginate; margins glabrous; thick, thin towards the margins; adx. somewhat concave and with a thin median ridge near the base, which continues into a median slit bordered by 2 more ridges which in front converge (and, half-way the lip, are fused along their crests, thus overtopping the median ridge) and in the back protrude as lobes, surface glabrous; abx. without a median ridge, surface glabrous with a tuft of distinct, elongated vesicles near the base; basal lobes with the frontal margins converging over the adaxial surface of the lip; triangular, tip obtuse to acute; glabrous; thin. Column from ovary to the tip of the stelidia 0.5-0.7 mm; stigma protruding at its base (sometimes with a downwards directed tooth), obovate; column-foot with a distinct, subacute central tooth close to the attachment of the lip. Stelidia inconspicuous, triangular, tip rounded to acute; upper margin erose or not; with a distinct, forwards projecting, triangular, subacute tooth along the lower margin. Anther abx. with a ridge towards its base; front margin not protruding. (After Vermeulen, 1993)
Colours: Floral bracts greenish orange to red. Flowers greenish or white, suffused brown-red to purple, or entirely of that colour. Tip of the sepals sometimes blackish.
Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest; 1300-2600 m.
Flowering time in the wild: January, March, April, August, September, November, December.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea; see map 96-116M.jpg.
Cultivation: Cool growing epiphyte.