Dendrobium erectifolium J.J.Sm., Bull. Dép. Agric. Indes Néerl. 19 (1908) 16; Nova Guinea 8, 1 (1909) 76, t. 26, fig. 84; Nova Guinea 8, 3 (1911).
Type: Versteeg 1309; 1390 a; 1670 (syn BO).
Rhizome short, creeping, branching, roots thicker than the stems. Stems crowded, erect, slender, elliptic in cross-section, 20-40 cm long, many-leaved, internodes 1.5-3.5 cm long. Leaf sheaths tubular, longer than the internodes, longitudinally ribbed, in upper part transversely rugulose, with a very short triangular apical tooth opposite the leaf-blade. Leaves erect, linear, 6-10 by 0.37-0.55 cm, apex subequally obtusely bilobulate, thinly coriaceous, the leaves in upper part of the stem shorter. Inflorescences arising laterally from the stem, 1-flowered, very short, peduncle 0.2 cm long. Pedicel and ovary 0.4 cm long. Flower c. 1.6 cm across. Dorsal sepal ovate, 0.8 cm by 4.6 mm, convex, 7-nerved, apex obtuse. Lateral sepals obliquely triangular, 0.9 cm by 8.5 mm, c. 8-nerved; mentum incurved, c. 0.6 cm long, broad, somewhat retuse. Petals oblong-subrhombic, 0.75 cm by 3.3 mm, convex, 3-nerved, apex obtuse. Lip 3-lobed in apical third, 0.9 by 0.7 cm, thickened between the lateral lobes, at the base with a rounded callus; lateral lobes erect, short, obtuse; midlobe transversely elliptic, 0.33 by 0.45 cm, carnose, minutely papillose, obtusely apiculate. Column conical, 0.23 cm long, clinandrium 3-lobulate, the lateral lobules denticulate, the median longer, subulate; column-foot at an acute, almost right, angle to the ovary, broadly linear, 0.6 cm long, curved, truncate. Anther cucullate, flattened in front, apex truncate. Pollinia subfalcate-triangular, laterally compressed.
(after Smith, 1909).
Colours: Flower red-brown.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lowland and lower montane forest. Altitude 0-900 m.
Flowering time in the wild: June to September.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Merauke, Jayapura, and Jaya Wijaya Regencies).
Notes: Should be compared with Dendrobium gracilicaule Kraenzl.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.