Dendrobium holochilum Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 582; 21 (1928) t. 194, fig. 727.
Type: Schlechter 19480 (holo B, lost).
Rhizome very short, roots elongated, filiform, flexuose, glabrous. Stems crowded, erect to suberect, slender, terete, 20-30 cm by 1.5 mm, densely many-leaved, unbranched. Leaf sheaths entirely covering the stem, verruculose. Leaves erect-patent, lanceolate-ligulate, 1.8-3.5 by 0.4-0.7 cm, apex obtuse, unequally bilobulate. Inflorescences lateral from the stem, short, peduncle very short, 2-flowered, spathe small, laterally compressed, obtuse. Floral bracts hyaline. Pedicel and ovary 0.6 cm long, slender, glabrous. Flowers c. 3 cm across. Dorsal sepal narrowly lanceolate, 1.5 cm long, apex elongated, much narrowed. Lateral sepals obliquely narrowly lanceolate, widened at the base, 1.5 cm long, apex elongated, much narrowed; mentum oblongoid, 0.5 cm long, obtuse. Petals obliquely linear, a little shorter than the sepals, apex elongated, much narrowed. Lip narrowly lanceolate-linguiform, 1.3 by 0.35 cm, with a thickened median keel extending from the base to beyond the middle, in apical half sparsely covered with long papillae, margins in apical half irregularly pectinate-incised, apex acute. Column short, glabrous, clinandrium 3-lobulate, the lateral lobules triangular, tooth-like, acute, the median short, obtuse; column-foot linear, 0.5 cm long, concave. Anther subreniform-cucullate, glabrous, in front truncate.
(after Schlechter, 1912).
Colours: Sepals and petals whitish, lip reddish, towards the apex sulphur yellow.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest. Altitude 1000 m.
Flowering time in the wild: May.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (Morobe Province: Maboro Mountains).
Map: HOLOCMAP.JPG [Dendrobium holochilum Schltr., distribution map.]
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.