Dendrobium kaniense Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 564; 21 (1923) t. 190, fig. 711.
Type: Schlechter 17485 (holo B, lost; iso L).
Rhizome very short, roots elongated, filiform, flexuose, glabrous. Stems crowded, patent, slender, 30-50 cm long, densely many-leaved, unbranched. Leaf sheaths entirely covering the stem. Leaves erect-patent, lanceolate, 7.5-11.5 by 0.8-1.3 cm, apex acute, strongly unequally bilobulate, thin-textured. Inflorescences lateral from the stems, racemose, very short, head-like, 4-6-flowered. Floral bracts elliptic, much shorter than the pedicel and ovary, apex obtuse. Ovary 1.1 cm long, cylindrical, narrowing to the base, sparsely covered with scale-hairs. Flowers 1.5 cm long, outside sparsely covered with scale-hairs. Dorsal sepal broadly elliptic, 0.8 cm long, apex obtuse. Lateral sepals obliquely broadly elliptic, much widened at the base, 0.8 cm long, apex obtuse; mentum oblongoid-conical, 0.5 cm long, obtuse. Petals obliquely obovate, c. 0.7 cm long, apex obtuse. Lip very broadly cuneate (subflabellate), with the lateral corners acute, 1.2 by 1.2 cm, at the base with a short claw, in the centre weakly 3-ribbed, with a depressed recurved appendage which is divided into 3-4 lanceolate, acute segments; the apical part with a large patch of long flexuose hairs, apical margins serrulate, apex broadly rounded-obtuse. Column short, thick, clinandrium 3-lobulate, the lateral lobules truncate, denticulate, the median a little longer, subulate; column-foot narrower, 0.5 cm long, at the apex with an oblong cavity. Anther subreniform-cucullate, in front truncate, glabrous.
(after Schlechter, 1912).
Colours: Flowers yellowish outside, inside white, the lip in the centre golden-yellow.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest. Altitude 1000 m.
Flowering time in the wild: March.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (Madang Province: Kani Mountains).
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.