Phreatia protensa

Phreatia protensa Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1913) 942

Type: Schlechter 19581 (holo B, lost)

Epiphytic, very small, slender, 6-8 cm long. Rhizome long creeping, flexuose; roots filiform, glabrous. Pseudobulbs 1.5-2 cm apart, oblongoid-depressed, 1-leaved, minute. Leaf erect, oblanceolate-ligulate, obtuse, towards the base gradually petiolate-narrowed, 1.8-3 cm long, above the middle 0.25-0.45 cm wide. Inflorescence rather laxly 3-6-flowered; peduncle very slender, two or three times as long as the leaves, with a few scales. Floral bracts ovate, acuminate, as long as the ovary or slightly longer. Flowers not resupinate. Sepals elliptic, obtuse, glabrous, 0.25 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique, at the base along the front margin conspicuously dilated. Petals obliquely oblong, obtuse, much smaller than the sepals. Lip as long as the sepals, in outline oblong, concave, in apical half dilated into a suborbicular blade, obtusely apiculate, inside in apical half finely pilose. Column very short, rostellum ovate, bidentate, rather high. Ovary shortly pedicellate, clavate, 0.28 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)

Colours: Flowers greenish white.

Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest; 1200 m.

Flowering time in the wild: May.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 549-202M.JPG.

Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.

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