Erythrodes sepikana

Erythrodes sepikana Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 58 (1922) 56

Type: Ledermann 9168 (holo B, lost)

Terrestrial herb, erect, simple, 30 cm high. Rhizome decumbent, laxly rooting, stem-like. Stem below the middle 1-5 leaved. Inflorescence with a few scales, sparsely glandulose-finely pilose. Leaves petiolate, erect-patent, obliquely elliptic-lanceolate, 6.5 by 2.3 cm, acuminate, base cuneate, glabrous, petiole dilated at the base, hood-like, clasping the stem, 2-2.5 cm long. Rachis rather laxly 15-20 flowered, about 9 cm long, narrow, erect. Floral bracts lanceolate acuminate, the lower ones exceeding the ovary, the upper ones gradually shorter. Flowers outside sparsely glandulose-finely pilose. Sepals ovate-elliptic, c. 0.4 cm long, obtuse, the lateral sepals somewhat oblique, erect-patent. Petals obliquely oblong, spathulate, c. 0.4 cm long, obtuse, glabrous, cohering with the median sepal along the inner margins. Lip at the base cucullate-spurred, broadly ovate, 0.35 cm wide, rather obtuse, above the middle shortly and acutely constricted, 5-nerved, glabrous, spur cylindrical, at the back somewhat compressed, in apical fourth bifid, about half as long as the ovary. Ovary cylindrical-fusiform, 0.8 cm long, glandulose-finely pilose. (After Schlechter, 1922).

Colours: Sepals tinged reddish, petals and lip white.

Habitat: Terrestrial in lower montane forest. Altitude 850 m.

Flowering time in the wild: October.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 287-28M.JPG

Cultivation: Intermediate growing terrestrial, keep in shade.

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