Dendrobium hastilabium Kraenzl., in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV. 50. II. B. 21 (1910) 52.
Type: Beccari 617 (holo FI, iso? HBG).
Stems to 80 cm long, densely many-leaved in upper part. Leaf sheaths 1.5 cm long. Leaves at right angles to the stem, oblong, 5-7.5 by 2.3-2.7 cm, acute, contracted and twisted at the apex. Inflorescences, 1-2-flowered (almost certainly erroneously given as '1-12' by Kraenzlin, as noted by Ormerod, pers. comm.). Flowers c. 1.5 cm across. Dorsal sepal broadly oblong, 1 cm long, apex acute. Lateral sepals ovate, 6-7 mm, apex obtuse; mentum open in front, almost globose. Petals ligulate, 0.7-0.8 cm by 4 mm, margins lightly undulate, apex abruptly narrowed, obtuse. Lip hastate, 0.8 by 0.4 cm, from broader base slightly narrowing towards the apex, on the upper half of the disc with a rather high median lamella which is granulose in the apical part and which is adnate to the apical margins of the lip, forming a coarsely granulose structure, apical part of the lip abruptly anchor-shaped. Clinandrium laterally denticulate, filament a little longer, linear.
(after Kraenzlin, 1910).
Colours: Sepals and petals yellowish with purple dots, lip suffused with purple on the lateral lobes and with a dark purple midlobe.
Habitat: Not known. Probably in the lowlands.
Flowering time in the wild: Not known.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Manokwari Regency).
Notes: This probably belongs to section Grastidium, but then the reference to a '1-12-flowered' inflorescence in the original description must be a misprint for '1-2-flowered'.