Dendrobium nothofageti (M.A.Clem. & D.L.Jones) Schuit. & de Vogel inedit. (to be published in Blumea).
Basionym: Dockrillia nothofageti.
Pendulous epiphytic herb forming clumps to about 1 m long. Aerial roots absent. Stems straight, 2-8 cm by 1-2 mm. Leaves linear-terete, 10-20 cm by 3-4 mm, pendulous. Racemes 1-4.5 cm long, moderately stout, arising singly from nodes at the leaf base, bearing 3-12 flowers. Pedicel 9-10 mm long, filiform. Ovary 12 mm long, hardly developed at anthesis. Flowers about 3.5 cm across, opening widely. Dorsal sepal linear-oblong, 1.2-1.5 cm by c. 3 mm, obliquely erect. Lateral sepals asymmetrically linear-oblong 1.7-2.1 cm by 3.5-4 mm, straight, divergent; apex obtuse. Petals narrowly oblong-obovate 1.5-1.7 cm by c. 2 mm, obliquely erect; apex subacute to obtuse. Lip porrect in basal two thirds, with midlobe spreading to recurved, 1.15-1.25 cm by c. 3-3.5 mm when flattened; lateral lobes more or less oblong, c. 8 by 1.5 mm, incurved, ending in a narrow, tooth-like lobe; midlobe elliptic to ovate, c. 4 by c. 3 mm, thin-textured, with margins strongly sinuate, and apex obtuse; callus of three narrow ridges, irregularly convolute-sinuate on the mid-lobe, extending to the lip apex. Column c. 3.5 by c. 2 mm, porrect from the end of the ovary, glabrous, with narrow wings extending higher than the anther; column foot c. 4.5 by c. 1 mm, at about 140 degrees to the column, shallowly channelled, glabrous. Stigma c. 1.5 mm long, deeply sunken. Anther c. 1.5 by 1.5 mm, with a deflexed rostrum. Pollinia not seen. Fruit not seen.
(after Clements & Jones, 1996).
Colours: Flower creamy-white with fine dark stripes.
Habitat: Epiphyte growing on the underside of branches of Nothofagus carrii trees. Altitude c. 2800 m.
Flowering time in the wild: July.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (Enga Province).
Map: NOTHIMAP.JPG [Dendrobium nothofageti (M.A.Clem. & D.L.Jones) Schuit. & de Vogel, distribution map.]
Notes: Dendrobium nothofageti is characterised by the following combination of features: large (3.5 cm across), creamy-white flowers with striped petals and sepals; lip lateral lobes ending in narrow linear teeth; an ovate-elliptical mid-lobe with the three callus ridges extending to the lip apex; and column with narrow acuminate wings extending above the anther.
(after Clements & Jones, 1996).
Cultivation: Cool growing epiphyte.