Zeuxine leucoptera

Zeuxine leucoptera Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1911) 78

Type: Schlechter 20087 (holo B, lost)

Terrestrial, slender, 17-30 cm high. Rhizome decumbent, stem-like; roots short, villose. Stem leafy, terete, glabrous, 5- to 7-leaved. Leaves erect-patent, petiolate, obliquely lanceolate-elliptic, acute or subacute, glabrous on both sides, 2.7-4.5 cm long, below the middle 1-1.5 cm wide; petiole dilated at the base, sheathing, 1.2-1.5 cm long. Peduncle with a few small, distant, bract-like scales, glandulose-puberulous; rachis laxly 3-5-flowered, secund, up to 5 cm long. Floral bracts ovate, acuminate, slightly more than half as long as the ovary. Flowers suberect. Sepals narrowly ovate, obtuse, in basal half outside puberulous. Median sepal 0.8 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique, a little smaller. Petals at the base obliquely ovate, narrowed towards the apex, obtuse, glabrous, along their inner margins adhering to the median sepal, a little shorter than the latter. Lip at the base ovate-cucullate, margins in the central part inflexed, narrowed into an oblong claw, lip at the apex expanded into a bilobulate, apiculate lobe, with divergent, obliquely oblong lobules with slightly undulate margins, the whole lip glabrous, as long as the petals, just above the base 0.3 cm wide, claw 0.3 cm long, apical lobe 0.25 cm long, between the lobules c. 1 cm wide. Column short, glabrous; rostellum triangular, bifid. Anther rhombic-ovate, cucullate, strongly acuminate, glabrous; pollinia obliquely pear-shaped; stipe obovate, large; viscidium very small, rounded. Ovary cylindrical, puberulous, c. 0.7 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)

Colours: Sepals light brownish, petals and lip white, claw of the lip golden yellow.

Habitat: Terrestrial in (lower) montane forest; 800 to 1800 m.

Flowering time in the wild: August, September.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 732-65M.JPG.

Cultivation: Intermediate growing terrestrial, requires shaded position.

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