Phreatia subtriloba

Phreatia subtriloba Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 58 (1923) 152

Type: Ledermann 12971 (holo B, lost)

Epiphytic, erect, slender, 6-7cm high, small. Stems short, covered with the overlapping leaf-sheaths. Leaves erect-patent or suberect, linear, 3-4.5 by 0.25-0.32 cm, subobtuse, apiculate, gradually somewhat narrowed towards the base, glabrous; leaf-sheaths dilated, with raised lines, at the apex slightly auriculate. Inflorescence slender, to 6.5 cm long, erect, rather densely many-flowered; peduncle slender, as long as the leaves or a little longer. Floral bracts lanceolate, acuminate, usually as long as the flowers. Flowers minute, glabrous, erect-patent. Sepals broadly ovate, hardly more than 0.1 cm long, obtuse. Lateral sepals oblique; mentum obtuse. Petals obliquely rhombic-ovate, obtuse,. a little shorter than the sepals. Lip at the base almost square-clawed, broadly cuneate, in front indistinctly 3-lobed, with triangular-subobtuse apex, about as long as the sepals. Column short, rather thick; clinandrium dorsally much widened, erect, clearly overtopping the rostellum. Ovary slender pedicellate, clavate, 0.25 cm long, glabrous. (After Schlechter, 1923)

Colours: Flowers white.

Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest; 1400 to 1500 m.

Flowering time in the wild: August.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 549-259M.JPG.

Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.

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