Dendrobium obliquum Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 606; 21 (1928) t. 204, fig. 768.
Type: Schlechter 18882 (holo B, lost; iso AMES, BO, G, L, NSW, S).
Rhizome very short, roots elongated, filiform, flexuose, glabrous. Stems crowded, erect-patent, unbranched, slightly laterally compressed, 30-40 cm long, densely many-leaved. Leaf sheaths entirely covering the stem. Leaves patent, elliptic, 5-8 by 1.5-3 cm, apex oblique, unequally obtusely bilobulate. Inflorescences arising seemingly from the leaf axils; peduncle very short, 2-flowered, spathe short, semioblong, obtuse. Pedicel and ovary 1.3 cm long, slender, glabrous. Flowers c. 2.5 cm across. Dorsal sepal oblong, 1.7 cm long, apex obtuse. Lateral sepals obliquely oblong, a little widened at the base, 1.7 cm long, apex obtuse; mentum short, obtuse. Petals obliquely elliptic-subspathulate, a little shorter and broader than the sepals, apex apiculate. Lip 3-lobed below the middle, 1 by 0.6 cm, cuneate at the base, with a narrow subdentate basal keel extending to beyond the middle, in the centre of the midlobe with a number of small clustered warts; lateral lobes small, obliquely quadrate, the front margin sparsely toothed; midlobe large, broadly elliptic, 0.5 cm wide, apiculate. Column short, rather thick, clinandrium 3-lobulate, the lateral lobules short, rounded, the median small, tooth-like; column-foot incurved.
(after Schlechter, 1912).
Colours: Flower yellowish white, column white with an orange-red spot at the apex of the column-foot.
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 (Eastern Highlands Province: near Mt Otto).
Map: OBLUUMAP.JPG [Dendrobium obliquum Schltr., distribution map.]
Cultivation: Warm growing epiphyte.