Phreatia bismarckiensis Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1913) 923
Type: Schlechter 18559 (holo B, lost)
Epiphytic, erect, very small, 7-8 cm high; roots filiform, glabrous. Stem almost lacking, hidden by the sheaths, c. 4-leaved. Leaves erect-patent, falcate-oblique, ligulate, obtuse, gradually narrowed towards the base, 3-4.5 cm long, near the middle 0.45-0.8 cm wide. Inflorescence erect, rather densely many-flowered, subsecund, almost twice as long as the leaves [‘flowers’]; peduncle slender, with a few small scales, a little shorter than the Leaves. Floral bracts lanceolate, acuminate, almost as long as the ovary. Flowers minute, glabrous. Sepals broadly ovate, obtuse, 0.13 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique, towards the base in front dilated. Petals obliquely oblong, obtuse, distinctly shorter than the sepals, about 0.1 cm long. Lip as long as the petals, at the base semioblong-clawed; blade in outline semi-orbicular, indistinctly 5-lobulate, 0.6 cm long, at the base 0.09 cm wide. Column short; rostellum bidentate; clinandrium equally high as the rostellum. Anther reniform-cucullate, umbonate; pollinia obliquely obovoid; stipe linear, a little shorter than the pollinia; viscidium minute, rounded. Ovary pedicellate, glabrous, 0.18 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Flowers white.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest; 1300 m.
Flowering time in the wild: January, October.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 549-18M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.