Dendrobium nubigenum Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 517; 21 (1923) t. 175, fig. 655.
Type: Schlechter 18827 (holo B, lost).
Rhizome very short, roots elongated, filiform, flexuose, glabrous. Stems crowded, erect to suberect, 12-15 cm long, rather fleshy, densely many-leaved; not branched, soon becoming longitudinally grooved. Leaf sheaths entirely covering the stem. Leaves erect-patent to suberect, oblong, 1.5-2 by 0.55-0.8 cm, apex obtuse, rigid. Inflorescences racemose, short, few-flowered. Floral bracts broadly ovate, much shorter than the pedicel and ovary, apex apiculate. Pedicel and ovary 2 cm long, slender, glabrous. Flowers resupinated or not, c. 2.5 cm long. Dorsal sepal elliptic, 1 cm long, apex obtuse. Lateral sepals obliquely elliptic, much widened at the base, 1 cm long, apex obtuse; mentum subcylindrical, 1.4 cm long, obtuse, open in front. Petals obliquely oblong-subspathulate, 1 cm long, apex obtuse. Lip concave, with a ligulate claw, in outline rhombic in apical part, 1.8 cm long, 0.3 cm wide across the claw, near the apex 0.6 cm wide, apical margin pectinate-dentate, plicate, apex hood-like, truncate, with a short obtuse projection. Column very short, clinandrium 3-lobulate, lateral lobules short, denticulate, the median longer, subulate; column-foot linear, concave, 1.8 cm long, adnate to the margins of the lip. Anther subquadrate-cucullate, retuse at the back, in front truncate and papillose.
(after Schlechter, 1912).
Colours: Flower violet-pink, lip and column orange-red.
Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest. Altitude 1800 to 2300 m.
Flowering time in the wild: May, November.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Paniai Regency); Papua New Guinea (Eastern Highlands Province).
Notes: Dendrobium nubigenum is related to Dendrobium apertum, Dendrobium xanthogenium, and Dendrobium purpureiflorum, all with widely opening bright violet-pink flowers.
Cultivation: Cool growing epiphyte.