Diplocaulobium pleurothalloides

Diplocaulobium pleurothalloides (Kraenzl.) Ormerod, Oasis 2, 1 (2001) 5.

Basionym: Dendrobium pleurothalloides.

Pseudobulbs 1-leaved, bottle-shaped, 20 cm long, the very long and slender upper part laterally compressed. Leaves oblong- lanceolate, 12 by 3 cm. Inflorescences terminal, 1-flowered, spathe 1 cm long. Flower c. 7 cm across. Dorsal sepal at the base triangular, upper part filiform, 4.5 cm long. Lateral sepals similar, mentum conical, acute. Petals similar to the sepals but a little smaller. Lip 3-lobed, when flattened pandurate in outline, below the constriction triangular, almost rhombic, on the disc with two high undulating keels, margins strongly undulate; midlobe triangular.
(after Kraenzlin, 1895).

Colours: Flower yellowish, densely purple-veined.

Habitat: Not recorded, presumably in the lowlands.

Flowering time in the wild: January.

Distribution: Bismarck Archipelago (endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (New Ireland).

Notes: Diplocaulobium pleurothalloides appears to belong in the affinity of Diplocaulobium xanthocaulon, from which it differs in the wavy keels on the lip.

Cultivation: Probably warm growing epiphyte.

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