Bulbophyllum staetophyton

Bulbophyllum staetophyton J.J.Verm., Nordic J. Bot. 26 (2008) 170, fig. 24

Type: Carr 10254 (holo L; iso AMES, LAE, NY), from PNG, Central Prov., Boridi

Roots sprouting mainly below the pseudobulbs. Rhizome c. 3 mm in diameter, sections between pseudobulbs 0.4-0.6 cm long, creeping, bracts not persistent. Pseudobulbs 0.9-1.7 by 0.4-0.6 cm, borne close together, erect, ovoid-cylindrical. Leaves: petiole 0.5-0.7 cm long; blade 4-5.5 by 0.5-0.6 cm, index (length/width) 3.6-4, subterete with a shallow groove adaxially, in outline elliptic-oblong, obtuse. Inflorescence 8-10 cm long, 1-flowered; peduncle 6-7.5 cm long, erect to patent; non-floriferous bracts c. 2, the longest c. 4.5 mm long; floral bract 4-5 mm long, tubular, acute. Flowers fully opening. Pedicel-with-ovary 15-17 mm long, basal node on a 3-4 mm long stump. Dorsal sepal 44-55 by c. 2.8 mm, index 15-20, triangular, acute, margins ciliolate, base broadly attached, rather thin, surface glabrous. Lateral sepals 49-57 by c. 7 mm, index 7-8.1, free, oblique, upper margin with a few ciliolae only, adaxial surface shortly-hairy except near the base and the tip, otherwise as the dorsal sepal. Petals c. 2 by 1.9 mm, index 1-1.1, porrect, triangular with the upper and lower margin widely expanded in the proximal third, obtuse, margins slightly erose proximally, base rather broadly attached, rather thin, surface glabrous. Lip c. 6.8 by 1.5 mm at the base, index c. 4.5, elsewhere c. 1.2 mm wide, recurved near the base, oblong with a widened base, obtuse, margins entire, rather thick; adaxially concave near the base, more or less flat or slightly convex elsewhere, surface glabous; abaxially convex near the base, slightly concave elsewhere, surface glabrous but with a tuft of rod-shaped papillae of up to 0.8 mm long near the ligament. Column c. 1.7 mm long; stigma subtriangular, without keels inside, with a distinct, papillose callus just below its base; foot distinctly widened, with distinct, triangular, obtuse lateral teeth just above the ligament; stelidia c. 0.9 mm long, triangular; anther-cap abaxially with a flattened crest overtopping the front margin, surface finely papillose, front margin not drawn out; pollinia 4, ellipsoid, the inner slightly shorter than the outer, all slightly flattened; no appendages. (After Vermeulen, 2008)

Colours: Sepals creamy-white, tip yellowish brown, proximal quarter with purple spots along the nerves, petals white with a crimson mid-nerve and margins, and a crimson tip, lip crimson, column greenish, foot suffused with crimson.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea; see map 96-2343M.jpg.

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