Gunnarella robertsii

Gunnarella robertsii (Schltr.) Senghas, Orchidee 39 (1988) 73

Basionym: Sarcochilus robertsii

Epiphyte, slender, subpatent, 7-18 cm long; roots flexuose, glabrous; stem hardly developed; leaves 4-8, erect-patent, falcate-linear, obliquely and subacutely bilobulate, 3-9 cm long, near the middle 0.3-0.5 cm wide; Inflorescence slender, laxly 20- to many-flowered, somewhat patent, peduncle short; bracts minute, deltoid, much shorter than the ovary. Flowers very small, glabrous. Sepals narrowly oblong, obtuse, 0.33 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique. Petals similar to the lateral sepals and about equal-sized. Lip in outline oblong-ligulate, broadly obtuse, somewhat fleshy, 0.13 cm long, margin in apical third margin on either side with a small, subacute tooth. Column short, column-foot in the middle with a tooth-like thickening, medium-sized. Anther reniform-cucullate, pollinia obliquely ellipsoid, the posterior ones smaller, appressed, stipe linear, half as long as the pollinia, viscidium minute. Ovary cylindrical, glabrous, 0.2 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914, as Chamaeanthus laxus Schltr.)

Colours: Flower white, anther yellow.

Habitat: Epiphyte in lowland forest. Altitude 0-180 m.

Flowering time in the wild: January, October.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea), Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia.

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 340-10M.JPG

Cultivation: Warm growing epiphyte.

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