Dendrobium section Latouria (Blume) Miq.,
Fl. Ned. Indië 3 (1859) 645.
Rhizome short. Pseudobulbs short to elongated, with few to many internodes, often clavate, often very narrow at the base, 1- to several-leaved in apical part. Leaves not distinctly sheathing at the base, glabrous, usually coriaceous. Inflorescences lateral from the upper part of the stem, or subterminal, racemose, 2- to many-flowered. Flowers medium-sized to large, resupinate, long-lived, often showy, the sepals sometimes hairy outside. Mentum short. Lip not mobile. Ovary sometimes hairy.
Distribution
Java, the Philippines, Moluccas, New Guinea, Australia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa. About 52 species; in New Guinea c. 45 species Map: LATOMAP1.JPG (with number of species indicated), from P. Cribb, Kew Bull. 38 (1983) 230, map 1.
Habitat
Epiphytes in lowland and montane forest, also terrestrial in subalpine grassland.
Notes
Section Latouria contains some of the most spectacular orchids of New Guinea, as well as some of the least spectacular. The unifying characteristics are not so much found in the flowers, but rather in the vegetative parts, most notably in the leaves, which lack the long sheathing base that is seen in most New Guinea dendrobiums. In this respect Latouria resembles sect. Fugacia, which differs in the more delicate, short-lived flowers with a mobile lip.