Cadetia finisterrae Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 436; 21 (1923) t. 151, fig. 566.
Type: Schlechter 20244 (holo B, lost).
Roots to more than 9 cm long, 0.5-1 mm diameter. Rhizome very short. Pseudobulbs crowded, terete, weakly 4-ribbed, 1.2-2.5 cm long, 1-2 mm diameter. Leaf linear, index 7.5-12, 1.5-3 cm by 2-4 mm, base gradually narrowed, apex obtuse, minutely bilobulate, mucronate, mucro longer than the lobules. Inflorescences terminal from the leaf axil and subterminal just below the abaxial side of the leaf, solitary, at the base with a 4-5 mm long tubular sheath. Peduncle 3-4 mm long. Ovary and pedicel 25 mm long, 3-winged, glabrous. Flower c. 0.8 cm across. Median sepal patent, narrowly ovate, 5.4 by 2.3 mm, acute, 3-nerved. Lateral sepals patent, obliquely elliptic-ovate, 4.6 by 2.9 mm, apex falcate-apiculate, 3-nerved; mentum conical, straight, 2.7 mm long, apical closed part 0.3 mm, apex rounded. Petals patent, somewhat obliquely linear, 4.4 by 0.8 mm, entire, obtuse, 1-nerved. Lip spathulate, 3-lobed, papillose on the callus and apical part of hypochile; hypochile 3.6 mm long, of which 0.3 mm fused with the column foot, 4.2 mm wide across the flattened lateral lobes; lateral lobes semi-elliptic, 1.4 by 1.1 mm, entire, apex rounded, forward-projecting over the midlobe when flattened; midlobe transversely oblong, 2.1 by 6.3 mm, fleshy, entire, apex shallowly emarginate, mucronate; callus at base of midlobe transverse, rounded, pubescent. Column 1.6 mm long, pubescent in front below the stigma, wings triangular; clinandrium entire, with a triangular median tooth; foot 2.4 mm long, pubescent at the base. Anther cucullate, 0.7 by 1 mm, base emarginate; apex truncate, pubescent; pollinia 0.7 mm long. Fruit not seen.
Colours: Flower greenish white.
Habitat: Mossy fagaceous forest over limestone, epiphyte. Altitude 950-2000 m.
Flowering time in the wild: September, October.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (Sandaun Province).
Map: FINCAMAP.JPG [Cadetia finisterrae Schltr., distribution map.]
Notes: By the foreward-projecting lateral lobes (when flattened) Cadetia finisterrae resembles Cadetia quinqueloba. It differs from that species in the entire, not bilobulate or denticulate lateral lobes and especially in the relatively much wider midlobe (3 times as wide as long, as compared to at most 1.5 times as wide as long in C. quinqueloba). It is also a smaller, more delicate plant than the latter. Cadetia ledifolia is similar, but lacks callosities on the midlobe and has a longer mentum and a 6-ribbed ovary.
Cultivation: Intermediate to cool growing epiphyte.