Epiblastus cuneatus J.J.Sm., Bull. Dép. Agric. Indes Néerl. 19 (1908) 22
Type: Versteeg 1695 (holo BO?; iso L)
Rhizome not seen. Pseudobulbs compressed, broadly linear, 3.5 cm long, 0.825-1 cm wide, apex 1-leaved. Leaf erect, broadly linear, apex acute, unequally bidentate and serrulate, at the base conduplicate, margin recurved, midrib grooved above, keeled below, 19.5 cm long, 1.85-3 cm wide; sheath conduplicate, 2.5 cm long. Inflorescence terminal, fasciculate, 6-flowered, peduncles arranged in one row, 1-flowered, 5-9 cm long. Floral bracts clasping the ovary at the base, almost cup-shaped, acuminate, 0.2 cm long. Flowers medium-sized. Median sepal oblong, narrowly obtuse, strongly concave, 5-nerved, 0.63 cm long, 0.3 cm wide. Lateral sepals forming a conical, obtuse, 0.43 cm long mentum with the column-foot, obliquely triangular, subacuminate, narrowly obtuse, 5-nerved, 0.63 cm long, at the base 0.65 cm wide. Petals oblong, obtuse, at the base somewhat narrowed, 3-nerved, 0.6 cm long, 0.23 cm wide. Lip erect, clawed, for the larger part fleshy, callus large, carnose, transverse, apex bilobed, somewhat decurrent on the lateral lobes below the base of the mid-lobe, glabrous, when flattened in total 0.75-0.87 cm long, 0.47-0.5 cm wide; claw narrow, in the middle with a prominent rib longitudinally adnate to the column-foot, 0.17 cm long; blade at the base cuneate, thickened, concave, 3-lobed in apical part, in outline rhombic, lateral lobes erect, triangular, rounded, in front thinner textured, mid-lobe much longer than the lateral lobes, much shorter than the basal part of the lip, more or less recurved , oblong-triangular, obtuse, slender, 0.25-0.3 cm long, at the base 0.2 cm wide. Column very small, 0.3 cm long, apex triangular, obtuse, at the base on either side dilated into a small lobule; clinandrium large, concave. Rostellum transverse, truncate. Stigma large, deeply saccate. Column-foot forming an acute angle with the ovary, straight, upper half adnate to the claw of the lip, 0.45 cm long. Ovary elongated, 6-grooved, 2.3-2.5 cm long. (After Smith, 1909)
Colours: Flower carmine red.
Habitat: Epiphyte in upper montane forest. Altitude 2100-3200 m.
Flowering time in the wild: February, June, September.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia). See map: 272-8M.JPG
Cultivation: Cool growing epiphyte.