Phreatia leioglossa Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 58 (1923) 150
Type: Ledermann 10218 (holo B, lost)
Epiphytic, erect, stout, c. 30 cm high. Rhizome very short. Pseudobulbs closely spaced, depressed-subglobose, 0.8 [‘8’] by 1 cm, 1-leaved, usually with smaller leaf-like sheaths at the base. Leaf erect, ligulate, 25-28 by 1.9-2.7 cm, subacute or subacuminate, gradually and conspicuously narrowed to the base, glabrous. Inflorescences at the base ascending, erect, c. 20 cm long; rachis densely many-flowered, almost as long as the peduncle, c. 10 cm long, c. 0.8 cm diam. across the flowers; peduncle with several scales. Floral bracts elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate, a little shorter or about as long as the flowers, patent. Flowers patent, not resupinated, glabrous. Sepals ovate, 0.25 cm long, subacuminate. Lateral sepals strongly oblique; mentum oblong, 0.15 cm long, obtuse. Petals obliquely ovate, 0.18 cm long, subobtuse, towards the apex subfalcate, a little shorter than the sepals. Lip at the base shortly clawed, broadly ovate, 0.23 by 0.18 cm, long, shortly and subobtusely acuminate, glabrous inside; spur about ascending, oblong, obtuse, almost half as long as the lip blade. Column average; clinandrium large, only a little shorter than the deeply bifid rostellum, column-foot fairly long. Ovary pedicellate, clavate, 0.3 cm long, glabrous. (After Schlechter, 1923)
Colours: Flower pure white.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest; 1000 m.
Flowering time in the wild: December.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 549-116M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.