Dendrobium erectum Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 582; 21 (1928) t. 194, fig. 728.
Type: Schlechter 19450 (holo B, lost).
Rhizome very short, roots elongated, filiform, flexuose, glabrous. Stems crowded, erect, slender, slightly laterally compressed, 20-40 cm by 2.5-3 mm, densely many-leaved, unbranched. Leaf sheaths entirely covering the stem. Leaves erect-patent to subpatent, lanceolate, 3.5-4.5 by 0.7-1.2 cm, apex obtuse, unequally bilobulate. Inflorescences lateral from the stem, short; peduncle hardly projecting from the spathe, 2-flowered, spathe oblong, laterally compressed, obtuse. Floral bracts small, hyaline. Pedicel and ovary 0.9 cm long, glabrous. Flowers c. 5 cm across. Dorsal sepal narrowly lanceolate, 2.7 cm long, apex elongated, much narrowed. Lateral sepals obliquely narrowly lanceolate, widened at the base, 2.7 cm long, apex elongated, much narrowed; mentum 0.6 cm long, incurved, obtuse. Petals obliquely linear, a little shorter than the sepals, apex elongated, much narrowed. Lip 3-lobed below the middle, in outline oblong, 1.5 cm long, with a thickened median keel extending from the base to the base of the midlobe, on the midlobe very densely covered with subulate papillae; lateral lobes ligulate, small, subacute; midlobe oblong, margins pectinate. Column short, glabrous, clinandrium 3-lobulate, the lateral lobules few-dentate, the median shortly 3-dentate; column-foot 0.6 cm long. Anther rhomboid-cucullate, glabrous, in front truncate.
(after Schlechter, 1912).
Colours: Flower whitish, outside spotted red, inside yellowish.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest. Altitude 900 m.
Flowering time in the wild: May.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (Morobe Province: Waria River).
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.