Dendrobium obscureauriculatum Gilli, Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien 84, B (1980 publ. 1983) 29, fig. 18 ('obscure-auriculatum').
Type: Gilli 266 (holo W).
Rhizome very short, roots thick, flexuose. Stems crowded, strongly bilaterally compressed, unbranched, 20-30 cm by 2 mm, in upper part densely many-leaved, in basal part not covered by sheaths, blackish. Leaf sheaths lined by raised veins. Leaves much longer than the internodes, narrowly ovate-lanceolate, 5-10 by 1-1.2 cm, apex obtusely and unequally bilobulate. Pedicel and ovary 1.5 cm long. Flowers 1.5 cm long. Dorsal sepal ovate-lanceolate, 1.5 cm long, apex subacute. Lateral sepals oblique; mentum 0.2 cm long, obtuse. Petals broad, about as long as the sepals, apex obtuse. Lip 3-lobed near the middle, broadly ovate; lateral lobes much smaller than the midlobe, obtuse. Column tridentate at apex; column-foot large.
(after Gilli)
Colours: Sepals yellow, tinged reddish outside, petals yellow, lip yellow with a median reddish stripe, the lateral lobes vaguely striped and spotted with violet.
Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest with Pandanus dominating. Altitude 2100 m.
Flowering time in the wild: January.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (Simbu Province).
Map: OBSCUMAP.JPG [Dendrobium obscureauriculatum Gilli, distribution map.]
Notes: The published description and illustration of this species are exceptionally poor and probably misleading.
Cultivation: Cool growing epiphyte?