Thelasis compacta Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1913) 907
Type: Schlechter 19145 (holo B, lost)
Epiphytic, small, 2-5 cm high. Rhizome short; roots flexuose, glabrous. Pseudobulbs closely spaced, oblique, depressed, oblongoid, 1-leaved, to 1 cm long, 0.5-0.7 cm wide. Leaf ligulate, unequally and obtusely bilobulate, fleshy, 2-4 cm long, near the middle 0.4-0.8 cm wide. Inflorescence not longer than the leaf; peduncle erect, straight, somewhat fleshy, with a few small scales; rachis head-like subglobose, densely many-flowered. Floral bracts very broadly elliptic, apiculate, surpassing the ovary. Flowers not resupinate, fleshy, glabrous. Sepals triangular, subacute, 0.28 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique high keeled. Petals obliquely elliptic-ligulate, subobtuse, a little shorter than the sepals and thinner. Lip with a very short claw, broadly ovate, acute, with incurved margins, as long as the petals, below the middle c. 0.18 cm wide, without callus. Column very short, fleshy, without foot, without rostellum. Ovary sharply 3-ribbed, sessile, c. 0.25 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Flowers green.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest; 1300 m.
Flowering time in the wild: January.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 686-14M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.