Dendrobium eumelinum

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

Type: Ledermann 9931; 11804; 11625 (syn B, lost).

Rhizome very short. Stems crowded, patent-subpendulous, slender, cylindrical, sparsely branched, subflexuose, 30-50 cm long, many-leaved. Leaf sheaths entirely covering the stem. Leaves erect-patent, lanceolate-ligulate, narrowing to the base, 3.5-8 by 0.6-0.85 cm, apex sharply acute. Inflorescences racemose, short. Floral bracts ovate, much shorter than the pedicel and ovary, , apex shortly acuminate to apiculate. Pedicel and ovary 1.3 cm long, subclavate, slender, glabrous. Flowers c. 1.2 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 oblongoid, almost straight, 0.8 cm long, obtuse. Petals obliquely elliptic, 0.55 cm long, apex obtuse. Lip narrowly ligulate-spathulate, apical half oblong-widened, 1 cm long, the basal part to below the middle with the margins adnate to the column-foot, apical part cucullate, slightly extending beyond the apex of the column proper, apex abruptly hood-like incurved, apical margins fimbriate-serrate. Column 0.3 cm long, clinandrium 3-lobulate, the lateral lobules obliquely quadrangular, the median a little shorter, subulate; column-foot narrow, 0.8 cm long, inside bluntly keeled.
(after Schlechter, 1923)

Colours: Sepals and petals bright orange-red, lip orange-yellow.

Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest. Altitude 1000-2070 m.

Flowering time in the wild: May, November.

Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).

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

Notes: Similar to Dendrobium subclausum, but with unusually small flowers.

Cultivation: Cool growing epiphyte.

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