Microtatorchis bracteata Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1913) 1007
Type: Schlechter 19791 (holo B, lost)
Epiphytic, very small, 1.5-3 cm high, stemless. Roots filiform, glabrous. Leaves erect-patent, 2-3, oblanceolate, acute, 0.8-1.2 cm long, above the middle 0.2-0.3 cm wide. Inflorescence erect, slightly more than twice as long as the leaves, laxly 4-8-flowered. Floral bracts leaf-like, elliptic, apiculate, distinctly surpassing the flowers. Flowers very small, glabrous. Sepals and petals lanceolate, subacute, keeled outside, in basal fourth in connate into a tube, 0.3 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique. Lip broadly lanceolate, acute, in basal half slightly hollowed out, as long as the petals; spur subglobose with a short apical hump, a third as long as the lip. Column very short, bilobed. Anther broadly cordate-cucullate, slightly notched. Pollinia broadly ellipsoid; stipe a little longer, slender at the base, upwards obovate; viscidium oblong, as long as the pollinia. Ovary 6-ribbed, glabrous, c. 0.18 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Flowers yellowish green.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest; 1100 m.
Flowering time in the wild: June.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 449-5M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.