Cadetia lucida

Cadetia lucida Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 433; 21 (1923) t. 150, fig. 562.

Type: Schlechter 19209 (holo B, lost).

Rhizome short. Stems crowded, erect, slender, obscurely 4-angled, 3.5-6 cm long, at apex to 2.5 mm diameter, 1-leaved. Leaves erect to suberect, ligulate-oblong, 4-5.5 by 1.3-1.8 cm, coriaceous, shiny, base rounded, apex obtuse, minutely bilobulate. Inflorescences terminal from the leaf axil, 1-flowered, spathe elliptic, 0.7 cm long. Pedicel and ovary 1 cm long, 6-ribbed. Flower resupinated, c. 0.9 cm across. Dorsal sepal oblong, 0.45 cm long, apex narrowly obtuse. Lateral sepals obliquely broadly elliptic, mentum cylindrical-conical, 2.5 mm long, obtuse. Petals subfalcate, linear, 0.45 cm long, at base long decurrent on the column-foot, apex obtuse. Lip clawed, 3-lobed in basal third of the blade, 0.35 by 0.4 cm (excluding the claw), claw linear-ligulate, 2.5 mm long, adnate to the column-foot, minutely pubescent inside at the base, on the disc at its base minutely pubescent; lateral lobes obliquely oblong, obtuse; midlobe much larger, reniform, when flattened clearly extending sideways beyond the lateral lobes, apex retuse, apiculate. Column short, in front minutely pubescent, stelidia obtuse, a little longer than the triangular, tooth-like filament; column-foot 0.25 cm long.
(after Schlechter, 1912).

Colours: Flower white, midlobe of the lip yellow, anther with a red spot.

Habitat: Epiphyte in lowland rainforest. Altitude c. 100 m.

Flowering time in the wild: January, March.

Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (East Sepik and Madang Provinces).

Map: LUCIDMAP.JPG [Cadetia lucida Schltr., distribution map.]

Notes: Cadetia lucida is related to Cadetia takadui and Cadetia subfalcata, with which it should be compared.

Cultivation: Warm growing epiphyte.

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