Thrixspermum aberrans

Thrixspermum aberrans Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1913) 961

Type: Schlechter 19404 (holo B, lost); para: Schlechter 19287 (B, lost; NB: Also paratype number of Dendrobium incumbens Schltr.); 19490 (B, lost)

Epiphytic, delicate; roots flexuose, glabrous. Stem short, densely leafy, 1-1.5 cm long. Leaves erect-patent, ligulate, apiculate, 1.5-3 cm long, near the middle 0.3-0.6 cm wide. Inflorescence very slender-pedunculate, 5-7 cm long; peduncle stiff, filiform, 3.5-5 cm long; rachis with flattened bracts, saw-like. Floral bracts conduplicate, falcate-ovate, subobtuse, much shorter than the ovary. Flowers rather small. Sepals elliptic, apiculate, glabrous, 0.45 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique, a little broader. Petals obliquely oblong, obtuse, as long as the sepals. Lip in outline square, concave, 0.4 cm long and wide, 3-lobed above the middle; lateral lobes incurved, very small, triangular, obtuse; mid-lobe very short, apiculate; at the base of the lip with a triangular or broadly conical, papillose, rather large callus; in the apical half of the lip with a second, oblong, large callus of which the posterior half is glandulose-puberulous. Column short, foot short. Anther cordate-cucullate, umbonate; pollinia obliquely obovoid; stipe linear, slightly longer then the pollinia; viscidium very small, rounded. Ovary slender, glabrous, c. 0.33 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)

Colours: Flowers whitish with orange-yellow spots.

Habitat: Epiphyte in hill forest; 150 to 1000 m.

Flowering time in the wild: April, May.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 690-2M.JPG.

Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.

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