Dendrobium brachycalyptra

Dendrobium brachycalyptra Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 58 (1923) 102.

Type: Ledermann 12368; 12485 a (syn B, lost).

Rhizome very short. Stems crowded, patent, slender, obconical, fleshy, soon becoming longitudinally grooved, 20-50 cm by 2-3.5 mm, many-leaved. Leaf sheaths entirely covering the stem. Leaves erect-patent, lanceolate to lanceolate-ligulate, 2.5-5 by 0.3-0.6 cm, apex setaceous-acuminate. Inflorescences racemose, subsessile; rachis short. Floral bracts ovate, much shorter than the pedicel and ovary, apex shortly acuminate. Pedicel and ovary c. 2.5 cm long, subclavate, slender, glabrous. Flowers c. 2.5 cm long. Dorsal sepal elliptic, 0.6 cm long, apex obtuse. Lateral sepals obliquely elliptic, much widened at the base, 0.6 cm long, apex obtuse; mentum conical, lightly curved, 2.2 cm long, obtuse. Petals obliquely oblong-ligulate, 0.5 cm long, apex obtuse. Lip narrowly ligulate-spathulate, 1.9 cm long, in basal half with the margins adnate to the column-foot, apical part cucullate-concave, only slightly extending beyond the base of the column proper, apex abruptly hood-like incurved, apical margins acutely dentate. Column 0.3 cm long; column-foot narrow, 2.2 cm long.
(after Schlechter, 1923).

Colours: Flower orange-yellow with paler tips.

Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest. Altitude 1400 m.

Flowering time in the wild: August.

Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).

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

Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.

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