Dendrobium erubescens Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 617; 21 (1928) t. 208, fig. 784.
Type: Schlechter 18733 (holo B, lost).
Rhizome very short, roots elongated, filiform, flexuose, glabrous. Stems crowded, erect, straight, slightly laterally compressed, 40 cm by 4 mm, densely leafy. Leaf sheaths entirely covering the stem, rugulose, at their apex drawn out into a lobe. Leaves erect, linear-ligulate, 4.5-6 by 0.8-1 cm, apex unequally and obtusely bilobulate, coriaceous. Inflorescences arising laterally from the stem, subsessile, 2-flowered; spathe covered by the lobe of the leaf-sheath, semiorbicular, broadly obtuse. Ovary 1 cm long, subsessile, glabrous. Flowers c. 1.5 cm across. Dorsal sepal oblong, 0.9 cm long, apex obtuse. Lateral sepals obliquely oblong, gradually widened to the base, 0.9 cm long, apex obtuse; mentum 0.4 cm long, obtuse. Petals obliquely oblong-subspathulate, 1 cm long, apex obtuse. Lip 3-lobed near the apex, broadly cuneate in outline, 0.7 by 0.85 cm, with a low raised median band, the latter apiculate in front, extending from the base to the base of the midlobe, laterally near its apex decurrent; lateral lobes triangular, acute; midlobe half as long, bilobulate, minutely apiculate. Column short, clinandrium 3-lobulate, the lateral lobules shorter than the median, almost tooth-like; column-foot concave, 0.4 cm long. Anther more or less helmet-shaped, glabrous.
(after Schlechter, 1912).
Colours: Flower reddish. Leaf sheaths brown.
Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest. Altitude 2000 m.
Flowering time in the wild: November.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (Eastern Highlands Province).
Map: ERUBEMAP.JPG [Dendrobium erubescens Schltr., distribution map.]
Cultivation: Cool growing epiphyte.