Octarrhena filiformis (L.O.Williams) P.Royen, Alp. Fl. New Guinea 2 (1979) 725, fig. 249
Basionym: Chitonanthera filiformis
Small, mat-forming epiphyte, to 10 cm long. Stems slender, flexuose, fractiflex; internodes 0.4-1 cm long. Leaves 0.5-2 cm long (mostly 1-1.5 cm long), 0.25-0.5 mm diam., filiform, terete, articulate; leaf-sheaths covering the stem, the apex extending out 0.1-0.2 cm from the stem to the articulation with the leaf blade. Inflorescence short, about equal to the subtending leaf or shorter, few-flowered; rachis filiform, fractiflex. Floral bracts about 0.1 cm long, ovate-triangular, acuminate, verrucose outside. Sepals united for a short distance at the base, fleshy. Median sepal 0.15-0.2 by 0.12-0.15 cm, ovate, obtuse, 1-nerved. Lateral sepals 0.12-0.15 by 0.08-0.12 cm, broadly ovate, obtuse, somewhat oblique, 1-nerved. Petals 0.05 by 0.07 cm, rhombic-reniform to rhombic-orbicular, obtuse, 1-nerved. Lip about 0.08 by 0.03 cm, oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, cymbiform, with two parallel fleshy ribs in the basal half. Column 0.05 cm long, reflexed, with two fleshy stelidia opposite the pouch-like stigma. Ovary verrucose. (After Williams, 1946)
Colours: Flowers orange.
Habitat: Epiphyte in mossy forest, also on trees and shrubs in subalpine grassland; 2600 to 3300 m.
Flowering time in the wild: February, March, May, June, July, August, October.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea. See map: 486-25M.JPG.
Cultivation: Cool growing epiphyte.