Phreatia longicaulis Schltr. in K.Schum. & Lauterb., Nachtr. Fl. Deutsch. Schutzgeb. Südsee (1905) 189
Type: Schlechter 14076 (holo B, lost)
Epiphytic, erect or suberect, several-stemmed. Rhizome very short; roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, glabrous. Stems unbranched; very rarely sparsely branched, thin-terete, glabrous, laxly leafy, entirely covered with the tightly clasping leaf-sheaths, 10-30 cm long, 0.2 cm diam. Leaves erect-patent or patent, obliquely linear subfalcate, obliquely and unequally bilobulate, glabrous, texture subcoriaceous, 2-4.5 cm long, near the middle 0.25-0.35 cm wide. Inflorescence slender, laxly 15-30-flowered, surpassing the leaves; peduncle short, with a few peduncle scales. Floral bracts lanceolate, acuminate, as long as the pedicellate ovary, glabrous. Flowers erect-patent. Median sepal oblong, subobtuse, glabrous, 0.1 cm long. Lateral sepals as long as the median sepal, strongly oblique, subobtuse, in basal along the front margins conspicuously dilated, c. 0.1 cm wide. Petals obliquely ligulate-oblong, subobtuse, glabrous, almost as long as the sepals. Lip broadly ovate-oblong, obtuse, somewhat concave, glabrous, 0.1 cm long; ovary pedicellate, clavate, glabrous, 0.15 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1905)
Colours: Flower pure white.
Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest; 300 to 3200 m.
Flowering time in the wild: January, February, March, April, June, August, September, November, December.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 549-128M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.