Dendrobium acutilobum Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 599; 21 (1928) t. 201, fig. 756.
Type: Schlechter 16874 (holo B, lost; iso AMES, BO, G, K, L, NSW).
Rhizome very short, roots elongated, filiform, flexuose, glabrous. Stems crowded, erect, unbranched, 50-60 cm long, many-leaved. Leaf sheaths almost entirely covering the stem. Leaves erect-patent, oblong-ligulate, 5-8 by 1.2-1.8 cm, apex obtusely and unequally bilobulate. Inflorescences arising laterally from the stem, subsessile, 2-flowered, spathe very short, broadly obtuse. Pedicel and ovary 1.3 cm long, glabrous. Flowers c. 3 cm wide. Sepals keeled outside. Dorsal sepal oblong-lanceolate, 1.6 cm long, glabrous, apex acute. Lateral sepals obliquely oblong-lanceolate, a little widened at the base, 1.6 cm long, apex acute; mentum short, obtuse. Petals obliquely elliptic-lanceolate, a little shorter than the sepals, apex acute. Lip 3-lobed above the middle, 0.8 by 0.8 cm, cuneate at the base, inside transversely rugulose, in the centre of the lip and on the midlobe with sparse recurved papillae, with an acute basal keel extending to below the middle; lateral lobes falcate, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate; midlobe about as long, ovate-triangular, margin sparsely undulate, acute. Column short, clinandrium 3-lobulate, the lateral lobules rounded, the median lobule longer, tooth-like; column-foot rather concave.
(after Schlechter, 1912).
Colours: Flowers rose-red, the lip with an orange-yellow keel.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lowland forest. Altitude 300 m.
Flowering time in the wild: November.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (Madang Province).
Map: ACULOMAP.JPG [Dendrobium acutilobum Schltr., distribution map.]
Cultivation: Warm growing epiphyte.