Appendicula oxysepala

Appendicula oxysepala (Schltr.) J.J.Sm., Nova Guinea 8, 1 (1909) 114, pl. 38, fig. 128

Basionym: Podochilus oxysepalus

Roots elongated, filiform, glabrous. Stems erect, unbranched, terete, 3-15 cm long, many-leaved. Leaves erect-patent, oblong-lanceolate, 0.5-1.5 by 0.2-0.5 cm, apex aristate-apiculate. Inflorescence terminal, racemose, 4.5 cm long, several-flowered. Floral bracts distichous, foliaceous, lanceolate, sometimes as long as the flower, often longer than the flower, margins sparsely ciliate-lacerate, apex acuminate, with a bristle-like mucro. Flowers c. 0.5 cm long. Dorsal sepal ovate, 0.3 cm long, apex acuminate, with an almost bristle-like tip. Lateral sepals strongly oblique, 0.3 cm long, much widened to the base, apex acuminate, with an almost bristle-like tip; mentum obtuse. Petals obliquely linear-ligulate, margins in apical half minutely serrulate, apex obtuse. Lip cuneate-obovate, 0.4 by 0.3 cm, base concave, oblong, with a tuft of short hairs, in the centre with a forked crest, of which the arms are recurved towards the lip margins, apical margins of lip crenulate-serrulate, at apex with an obtuse swollen lobule. Column short, rostellum erect, trilobulate, lateral lobules subulate, incurved, median lobule short, truncate; column-foot long. Anther subquadrate, apex retuse. Pollinia 6, caudicles two, concave, viscidia two, oblong, small.
(After Schlechter, 1905, as Podochilus oxysepalus Schltr.).

Colours: Flower white.

Habitat: Epiphyte in hill and lower montane forest. Altitude 500-1000 m.

Flowering time in the wild: April, October.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea. See map: 57-142M.JPG

Cultivation: Warm-intermediate growing epiphyte, keep in shade.

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