Flickingeria lonchigera (Schltr.) Schuit. & de Vogel, Blumea 48 (2003) 510
Basionym: Dendrobium lonchigerum.
Rhizome elongated, creeping, branching. Pseudobulbs widely spaced, 1-leaved, fusiform-clavate, laterally compressed, 6-8 by 0.3-1.2 cm. Leaves lanceolate, 6-9 by 2.2-2.8 cm, base rather rounded, apex acute with a subulate point. Inflorescences 1-flowered. Pedicel and ovary 0.6 cm long, subclavate, with sparse scale hairs. Flower c. 2 cm across. Dorsal sepal lanceolate, 1.2 cm long, apex acute. Lateral sepals obliquely ovate-triangular, widened at the base, 1.2 cm long, apex acute; mentum triangular-ovoid, 0.4-0.5 cm long, obtuse. Petals obliquely linear, 1 cm long, apex acute. Lip 3-lobed below the middle, 1.2 by 0.8 cm, base broadly cuneate, with 4 keels extending from the base to just below the apex, the keels widened below the middle, on the midlobe lightly undulate, the midvein somewhat thickened; lateral lobes obliquely triangular, obtuse; midlobe about three times as long, elliptic, 0.7 by 0.37 cm, margins lightly undulate, apiculate. Column 0.4 cm long, clinandrium 3-lobulate, the lateral lobules triangular, obtuse, the median twice as long, subulate; column-foot 0.4-0.5 cm long.
(after Schlechter, 1923).
Colours: Flower white, outside sparsely furfuraceous.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lowland forest. Altitude 40-650 m.
Flowering time in the wild: August, November.
Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Manokwari, Jayapura, and Merauke Regencies); Papua New Guinea (East Sepik Province).
Map: LONCHMAP.JPG [Flickingeria lonchigera (Schltr.) Schuit. & de Vogel, distribution map.]
Notes: This is one of the few Flickingeria species with a creeping, not bushy rhizome. It is easily distinguished by the white flowers and the lip with lamellate keels running to the apex of the pointed midlobe, resembling certain species of Diplocaulobium.
Cultivation: Warm growing epiphyte.