Liparis brevicaulis Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1911) 202
Type: Schlechter 20135 (holo B, lost)
Terrestrial, erect, small, 20-35 cm high. Rhizome very short; roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, puberulous. Pseudobulbs crowded, laterally compressed, ancipitous, almost petiole-like, 1.3-3cm long, 0.4-0.6 cm diam., 1-leaved. Leaf erect or suberect, oblanceolate-ligulate, acuminate, towards the base gradually subpetiolate-narrowed, glabrous on both sides, veined, 14-28 cm long, above the middle 1.5-3.5 cm wide. Inflorescence erect, distinctly shorter than the leaf, laxly 3-6-flowered, peduncle slightly angular, glabrous, slender, to 6 cm long. Floral bracts erect-patent, lanceolate, acuminate, hardly more than half as long as the ovary. Flowers erect-patent, glabrous. Sepals reflexed, oblong-ligulate, apiculate, outside with thickened mid-vein, 0.9 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique. Petals narrowly and obliquely linear, subobtuse, glabrous, as long as the sepals. Lip at the base cuneate-narrowed, suborbicular, 0.9 cm long, above the middle 0.8 cm wide, with irregular margins, entirely glabrous, at the base inside with a semiorbicular, small callus, apex very shortly acuminate (almost apiculate). Column strongly curved, dilated towards the apex, glabrous, in front longitudinally grooved, 0.3 cm long, on either side of the stigma indistinctly auriculate, at the base laterally dilated. Anther oblong, in front prolonged, apiculate, glabrous. Ovary slender, glabrous, including the pedicel c. 1.3 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Flowers light green.
Habitat: Terrestrial in lower montane forest growing in dense shade; 800 m.
Flowering time in the wild: September.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 416-73M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing terrestrial, requires shaded position.