Dendrobium kempterianum Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 561; 21 (1923) t. 188, fig. 706.
Type: Schlechter 16351; 17312 (B, lost).
Rhizome very short, roots elongated, filiform, flexuose, glabrous. Stems crowded, patent, slender, fleshy, up to 80 cm by 7 mm, many-leaved, unbranched. Leaf sheaths entirely covering the stem. Leaves erect-patent, elliptic-ligulate, 7-14 by 2.5-3.7 cm, apex acute to acuminate. Inflorescences lateral from the stems, racemose, short, head-like; peduncle very short, scales bract-like, 5-10-flowered. Floral bracts broadly elliptic, much shorter than the ovary, apex obtuse, clasping the ovary. Ovary 1 cm long, subclavate, sparsely covered with scale-hairs. Flowers c. 2 cm long, outside sparsely covered with scale-hairs. Dorsal sepal elliptic, 1.1 cm long, apex obtuse. Lateral sepals obliquely elliptic, much widened at the base, 1.1 cm long, apex obtuse; mentum oblongoid, 0.7 cm long, obtuse. Petals obliquely elliptic, 1 cm long, apex obtuse. Lip broadly obovate in outline, gradually narrowed into a short basal claw, 1.4 by 0.9 cm, with a longitudinal appressed reflexed 3-lobulate appendage, with the sparsely toothed lobules truncate; in the centre with 3 slightly raised veins, margins below the middle incurved, apical part of the lip abruptly slightly dilated, densely covered with subulate papillae, apex obtuse, minutely obtusely apiculate. Column short, thick, clinandrium 3-lobulate; the lateral lobules truncate, the median short, tooth-like; column-foot 0.7 cm long, with an oblong cavity.
(after Schlechter, 1912).
Colours: Flowers yellowish outside, inside white; lip sulphur-yellow with orange-yellow centre.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lowland and hill forest. Altitude 300-500 m.
Flowering time in the wild: February, August.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (Madang Province).
Cultivation: Warm growing epiphyte.