Cadetia latoureoides

Cadetia latoureoides Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 58 (1922) 93.

Type: Ledermann 12488 (holo B, lost).

Rhizome very short. Stems crowded, erect, 3-8 cm by 1-1.5 mm, 1-leaved. Leaves erect, linear-ligulate, 5-10 by 0.5-0.8 cm, apex apiculate. Inflorescences 1-flowered. Pedicel and ovary 0.7 cm long, clavate, sharply triangular in cross section. Flower c. 1 cm across. Sepals ovate, 0.6 cm long, apex somewhat obtusely acuminate; mentum obliquely conical, near the apex contracted and subglobose-dilated. Petals obliquely linear, slightly dilated in the middle and at the base, a little shorter than the sepals, apex acute. Lip 3-lobed, 0.6 by 0.4 cm, narrowly oblong-ligulate at the base, between the lateral lobes with an indistinctly bilobed transverse fleshy keel, at the base of the midlobe with two thick subulate appendages extending to beyond the middle; lateral lobes ovate-falcate, subacute; midlobe broadly obovate-trapezoid, apex bilobulate to the middle, the lobules semirhombic, with an apicule in the sinus. Column 0.25 cm long, pubescent in front.
(after Schlechter, 1922).

Colours: Flower white, the lip with greenish yellow spots.

Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest. Altitude 1500 m.

Flowering time in the wild: August.

Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (East Sepik Province).

Map: LATOUMAP.JPG [Cadetia latoureoides Schltr., distribution map.]

Notes: Cadetia latoureoides has not been found again since it was collected by Ledermann in 1913. It appears to be very distinctive because of the two subulate appendages on the midlobe of the lip, a character otherwise unknown in Cadetia (but see our comments under Cadetia bicornuta).

Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.

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