Dendrobium chordiforme

Dendrobium chordiforme Kraenzl., in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV. 50. II. B. 21 (1910) 292.

Type: Lauterbach 484 (holo HBG).

Rhizome elongated, branching, pendulous. Stems very short, 1-leaved. Leaves terete, to more than 30 cm long. Inflorescences racemose, patent, laxly few-flowered. Floral bracts minute. Pedicel long, ovary short. Flowers c. 2 cm across. Dorsal sepal linear, 1 cm long. Lateral sepals narrowly triangular, apex acuminate; mentum obtuse. Petals linear, 1 cm long. Lip oblong in basal part, 0.8 cm long, with an undulating median keel and two smaller keels on either side, these decurrent and extending to the apex, apical part cordate, triangular, folded near the apex. Column very short, clinandrium minutely serrulate, toothed at the back.
(after Kraenzlin, 1910).

Colours: Flower white.

Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest. Altitude 1600 m.

Flowering time in the wild: July.

Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (Morobe and Southern Highlands Province).

Notes: We suspect that Kraenzlin's description of Dendrobium chordiforme is inaccurate, causing Schlechter to describe it once more as Dendrobium flagellum.

Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte. Easily cultivated on a slab of tree fern.

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