Dendrobium flammula Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 516; 21 (1923) t. 175, fig. 653.
Type: Schlechter 19696 (holo B, lost).
Rhizome very short, roots elongated, filiform, flexuose, glabrous. Stems crowded, patent, slender, up to 50 cm long, many-leaved, more or less branched. Leaf sheaths entirely covering the stem, granulose-verrucose. Leaves erect-patent to subpatent, lanceolate-ligulate, 2-3 by 0.25-0.4 cm, apex acute to obliquely apiculate. Inflorescences racemose, very short, 3-5-flowered. Floral bracts ovate, much shorter than the pedicel and ovary, apex acuminate. Pedicel and ovary 2 cm long, slender, glabrous. Flowers resupinated or not, c. 2 cm long. Dorsal sepal broadly elliptic, 0.8 cm long, apex apiculate. Lateral sepals obliquely broadly elliptic, much widened at the base, 0.8 cm long, apex apiculate; mentum oblongoid, c. 1.3 cm long, obtuse, closed in front in lower third. Petals obliquely oblong, slightly narrowed to the base, c. 0.7 cm long, apex obtuse. Lip strongly concave, with a narrow claw in basal half, upper half oblong-cuneate in outline, basal margins adnate to the column-foot, apical margin pectinate-dentate, apex hood-like, slightly surpassing the column. Column short, clinandrium 3-lobulate, the lateral lobules obtuse-truncate, the median tooth-like; column-foot linear, 1.3 cm long, near the apex with an elliptic concavity. Anther broadly quadrate-cucullate, at the back emarginate, in front truncate and papillose.
(after Schlechter, 1912).
Colours: Flowers brilliant vermilion, the petals, the apices of the sepals and the column yellow.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest. Altitude 1200 m.
Flowering time in the wild: June.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (Morobe Province: Dischore Mountains).
Notes: Probably not specifically distinct from Dendrobium subclausum.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.