Dendrobium straussianum Schltr., Orchis 9 (1915) 92, pl. 6, fig. 16-21.
Type: Berlin cult. (Peekel) s.n. (1914, New Ireland) (holo B, lost; iso HBG).
Rhizome very short. Stems stout, unbranched, terete, to more than 100 cm by 10-12 mm. Leaf sheaths smooth. Leaves patent, slightly oblique, oblong, 10 by 3.5 cm, coriaceous, apex unequally shortly bilobulate. Inflorescences laterally from the stems; peduncle very short, 2-flowered. Pedicel and ovary 1.2 cm long. Flowers c. 2 cm across. Dorsal sepal narrowly oblong-ligulate, 1.5 cm long, carnose, apex narrowly obtuse. Lateral sepals slightly falcate, mentum 0.3 cm long, obtuse. Petals obliquely narrowly ligulate, about as long as the sepals. Lip 3-lobed above the middle, 0.8 by 0.65 cm, with a muricate-verruculose basal keel extending to the middle of the midlobe, on the disc with sparse warts, with numerous warts on the midlobe; lateral lobes obliquely oblong, obtuse; midlobe hardly surpassing the lateral lobes, semioblong-triangular, margins undulate-crenulate, obtuse. Column 0.35 cm long; column-foot 0.3 cm long.
(after Schlechter, 1915).
Colours: Not known.
Habitat: Not known.
Flowering time in the wild: Not known.
Distribution: Bismarck Archipelago (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (New Ireland).
Map: STRAUMAP.JPG [Dendrobium straussianum Schltr., distribution map.]
Notes: Dendrobium straussianum belongs in the affinity of Dendrobium longicaule.
Cultivation: Warm growing epiphyte.