Dendrobium baeuerlenii

Dendrobium baeuerlenii F.Muell. & Kraenzl., Österr. Bot. Zeitschr. 44 (1894) 163.

Type: Baeuerlen 483 (holo B, lost).

Rhizome short. Stems crowded, slender, straight, c. 50 cm long. Leaf sheaths c. 2.5 cm long. Leaves patent, almost at right angles to the stem, narrowly linear, 10-12 by 0.5-0.7 cm, acuminate. Inflorescences subterminal, racemose, short, few-flowered. Floral bracts ovate, much shorter than the pedicel with ovary, apex acute, membranous. Flowers 2.5-3 cm long. Dorsal sepal broadly oblong to suborbicular, c. 0.7 cm long. Lateral sepals rounded; mentum rounded, about two-thirds the length of the pedicel with ovary. Petals broadly oblong to suborbicular, c. 0.7 cm long, margins minutely erose. Lip cuneate-spathulate, obscurely 3-lobed near the apex, margin slightly incurved, minutely denticulate. Column short, thick.
(after Kraenzlin, 1910).

Colours: Flower pale pink.

Habitat: Epiphyte in lowland rainforest.

Flowering time in the wild: June, October.

Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Nabire, Jayapura, and Merauke Regencies); Papua New Guinea (Western Province: Fly River).

Notes: A more detailed description was given by J. J. Smith (1913). This species, a relative of Dendrobium lawesii, may be recognised by the long narrow leaves.

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