Trichotosia phaeotricha

Trichotosia phaeotricha (Schltr.) Kraenzl. in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV. 50. II. B. 21 (1911) 144

Basionym: Eria phaeotricha

Epiphyte. Roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, glabrous. Stems several, erect to pendent, stout, usually not branching, 50 cm long, many-leaved, entirely covered with the leaf-sheaths. Leaf-sheaths with the margins largely connate, puberulous, margins ciliate. Leaves erect-patent, lanceolate-ligulate, 8-12 by 1.5-2.2 cm, coriaceous, short-puberulous below, glabrous above, apex obliquely bilobulate. Inflorescences racemose, erect-patent to pendent, not surpassing the leaves, densely pilose, laxly several-flowered. Floral bracts ovate, leaf-like, a little shorter than the flowers, apex acuminate. Median sepal oblong, 0.9 cm long, outside pilose, apex subobtuse. Lateral sepals subfalcate, dilated in front along the basal margin, 0.9 by 0.9 cm, pilose, apex subobtuse. Petals obliquely linear-oblong, obtuse, 0.8 cm long, glabrous, apex obtuse. Lip 3-lobed, 1.2 by 0.7 cm, oblong-cuneate at the base, with 3 parallel lamellae extending from the base to the middle, swollen towards the apex, the median lamella decurrent to the tip of the mid-lobe; lateral lobes small, triangular-falcate, obtuse; mid-lobe subreniform, 0.8 cm wide, with undulate margin. Column short, foot oblong. Anther subreniform, in front subapiculate. Ovary 0.5 cm long, subcylindrical, pilose. (After Schlechter, 1905)

Colours: Flower inside whitish. Hairs on plant and flowers brown.

Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest; 1100 m.

Flowering time in the wild: April.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 704-78M.JPG.

Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.

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