Phreatia chionantha

Phreatia chionantha Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1913) 935

Type: Schlechter 20202 (holo B, lost)

Epiphytic, very small, slender, 5-8.5 cm high. Rhizome short; roots filiform, glabrous. Pseudobulbs closely spaced, narrowly ovoid, 2-leaved, 0.4-0.6 cm white, below the middle 0.2-0.3 cm diam. Leaves suberect, obliquely linear, apex minutely and unequally bilobulate, gradually somewhat narrowed towards the base, 3-8 cm long, near the middle 0.3-0.6 cm wide. Inflorescence slender, to 10 cm long, laxly many-flowered, subsecund, overtopping the leaves; peduncle with a few small scales, very slender. Floral bracts lanceolate, acuminate, as long as the ovary or a little longer. Flowers very small, glabrous. Sepals ovate, obtuse or minutely apiculate, 0.2 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique, at the base in front a little dilated. Petals obliquely ovate, subobtuse, 0.13 cm long. Lip as long as the sepals; claw broadly ovate, concave in the middle; blade very broadly reniform, obtusely apiculate, 0.13 cm long, at the base 0.2 cm wide. Column short; rostellum bidentate, very small; clinandrium subcucullate. Anther ovate-cordate, cucullate; pollinia obliquely obovoid; stipe narrowly linear; viscidium minute. Ovary pedicellate, glabrous, c. 0.3 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)

Colours: Flowers white.

Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest; 800 m.

Flowering time in the wild: September.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 549-39M.JPG.

Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.

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