Phreatia kempteri

Phreatia kempteri Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 16 (1919) 127

Type: Kempter s.n. (Kaiser Wilhelmsland, area behind Vanimo) (holo B, lost)

Epiphytic, slender, 16-17 cm high. Rhizome very short; roots filiform, flexuose, slender, glabrous. Pseudobulbs very closely spaced, subglobose, unequally 2-leaved, covered with 2-3 clasping sheaths, of which the inner one carries a leaf, c. 0.5 cm diam. Leaves suberect, ligulate, subobtuse, towards the base weakly petiolate-narrowed, the outer one c. 5, the inner one c. 8 cm long, 0.7-0.8 cm wide. Inflorescence erect, arising at the base of the pseudobulbs, subflexuose, slender, 10-12 cm long, with c. 5 distant, tightly clasping, acuminate, peduncle-scales; rachis densely many-flowered, elongated, c. 6 cm long. Floral bracts narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, the lower ones almost equalling the flower, the upper ones gradually a little shorter. Flowers glabrous. Median sepal elliptic, obtuse, c. 0.1 cm long; lateral sepals strongly oblique, triangular, obtuse, at the base along the front margin strongly dilated; mentum semioblongoid, obtuse, almost 0.08 cm long. Petals obliquely oblong, obtuse, a little shorter than the sepals. Lip at the base square-elliptic, concave-clawed, blade semilunatc-reniform, broadly obtuse, about as long as the sepals. Column short; rostellum triangular, shortly notched, a little shorter than the dorsally widened clinandrium. Ovary pedicellate, clavate, glabrous, 0.3 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1919)

Colours: Not recorded.

Habitat: Epiphyte.

Flowering time in the wild: Not known.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea, hinterland of Vanimo.

Cultivation: Epiphyte.

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