Cadetia aprinoides

Cadetia aprinoides (J.J.Sm.) A.D.Hawkes, Orquidea (Mexico City) 23 (1961) 178.

Basionym: Dendrobium aprinoides.

Rhizome short. Stems slender, grooved, 3.2-5.5 cm by 2-2.8 mm, 1-leaved. Leaves erect, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 3.5 by 0.65-0.9 cm, carnose, apex very shortly bidentate, mucronate, with the mucro longer than the teeth. Inflorescences terminal from the leaf axil as well as subterminal below the abaxial side of the leaf, 1-flowered; peduncle 0.5 cm long. Pedicel and ovary 1.7 cm long, strongly 5-ribbed. Flower c. 0.8 cm across. Dorsal sepal oblong, 0.43 cm by 1.7 mm, apex acute. Lateral sepals obliquely subelliptic-oblong, 0.45 cm by 2.5 mm, apex obtuse; mentum subovoid, dorsally compressed, 0.25 cm long, obtuse. Petals obliquely narrowly linear, slightly widened at the base, 0.4 cm by 0.3 mm, apex narrowly obtuse. Lip clawed, 3-lobed at the base of the blade, claw oblong, pubescent inside, with two convex longitudinal swellings in basal part, 0.37 cm long, blade 0.68 by 0.5 cm; lateral lobes falcate-recurved, obliquely oblong, 1.8 by 0.8 mm, back margin minutely erose, apex obtuse; midlobe transversely oblong, 0.27 by 0.48 cm, fleshy, with a triangular thickening which towards the apex is drawn out in a subulate tip, apex slightly retuse, minutely apiculate. Column 0.16 cm long, papillose, stelidia triangular, narrowly obtuse, filament slightly shorter, subulate; column-foot 0.28 cm long. Fruit ellipsoid, curved, strongly 5-winged, 1.2 by 0.52 cm.
(after Smith, 1929).

Colours: Not known.

Habitat: Epiphyte in low, mossy, Vaccinium-dominated, montane ridge forest. Altitude 1400 m.

Flowering time in the wild: October.

Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Paniai Regency).

Map: APRNOMAP.JPG [Cadetia aprinoides (J.J.Sm.) A.D.Hawkes, distribution map.]

Notes: Cadetia aprinoides resembles Cadetia aprina by the falcate-recurved lateral lobes, but differs in the very narrowly linear petals and the transversely oblong midlobe.

Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.

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