Microtatorchis ceratostylis Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1913) 1001
Type: Schlechter 17650 (holo B, lost)
Epiphytic, very small, stemless, hardly 2 cm high. Roots filiform, glabrous. Leaves c. 4, oblanceolate-ligulate, apiculate, 1.5-2 cm long, above the middle 0.3-0.4 cm wide. Inflorescence rather laxly few-flowered, as long as the leaves. Floral bracts deltoid, acute, about as long as the ovary. Flowers minute, glabrous. Sepals and petals up to the middle connate into a bell-shaped tube, 0.2 cm long, free parts ovate-lanceolate, subacute. Lateral sepals oblique. Lip ovate-lanceolate, subacute, subobtuse, about as long as the sepals, concave; spur in outline subglobose, geniculate-incurved, half as long as the lip. Column very short, deeply bilobed (almost with two horns). Ovary triangular in cross-section, subsessile, 0.15 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Flowers light green, later yellowish.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest; 800 m.
Flowering time in the wild: May.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 449-9M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.