Appendicula grandifolia

Appendicula grandifolia Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 339

Type: Schlechter 16234 (holo B, lost; iso BO, K)

Epiphyte, erect or patent, up to 100 cm long; rhizome very short, roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, villose; stems unbranched, almost straight, terete, glabrous, densely leafy, entirely covered by the closely appressed leaf-sheaths, at the base 0.8 cm diameter; leaves erect-patent, ligulate-oblong, obliquely apiculate, 7.5-12.5 cm long, near the middle 1.4-2.8 cm wide, glabrous; Inflorescence lateral, erect or suberect, densely many-flowered, several times shorter than the leaves; bracts somewhat patent, ovate-lanceolate, apiculate, about half as long as the ovary. Flowers erect-patent, glabrous. Sepals triangular-ovate, obtuse, 0.25 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique, front margins dilated, mentum triangular, obtuse, 0.1 cm long. Petals obliquely ligulate-oblong, obtuse, glabrous, somewhat shorter than the sepals. Lip in outline oblong, obtusely apiculate with a minute swelling at the apex, in lower half concave, margins adnate to the column-foot, glabrous, 0.28 cm long, near the middle 0.18 cm wide, above the base with a low, horseshoe-shaped lamella, in the middle decurrent on the margins. Column short, with a low, somewhat notched lamella in front of the stigma, rostellum triangular, notched, medium-sized. Anther broadly triangular, acuminate, glabrous, at the base cordate; pollinia 6, obliquely clavate, unequal-sized, stipe concave, oblanceolate, short, viscidium ovate, in front acute, minute. Ovary slender, cylindrical, subsessile, 0.35 cm long, glabrous. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)

Colours: Sepals yellowish, lip white.

Habitat: Epiphyte in lowland forest in shaded positions. Altitude 25-200 m.

Flowering time in the wild: January, July, October.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea. See map: 57-82M.JPG

Cultivation: Warm growing epiphyte, keep in shade.

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