Epiblastus Schltr.,
in K.Schum. & Lauterb., Nachtr. Fl. Deutsch. Schutzgeb. Südsee (1905) 136
Sympodial epiphytic or terrestrial plants. Pseudobulbs present, consisting of one internode, one-leaved. Leaves without sheathing base, glabrous, dorso-ventrally flattened, articulate, duplicate, leathery. Inflorescence terminal, carrying a single flower, occurring in fascicles from the developing shoot. Flowers small, resupinate, (orange-)red, or pink. Sepals free, but usually more or less cohering in basal half. Petals free, about as long as the dorsal sepal, but somewhat narrower. Lip without spur, not mobile, longitudinally adnate to the column through a median callosity. Column-foot present. Pollinia 8, solid-waxy, caudicles present, stipe absent, viscidium absent.
Distribution
Sulawesi, Moluccas, Philippines, New Guinea, east to Samoa. About 15 species; in New Guinea c. 10 species.
Habitat
Epiphytic in hill and montane forest. At higher altitudes terrestrial in open mossy places between trees and shrubs.
Notes
A characteristic genus allied to Mediocalcar, but the sepals are not connate as in the latter. The flowers always appear in fascicles from the young shoot, and what they lack in size they make up with their abundance and their bright colours, usually pink or red. The taxonomy of this genus is among the most perplexing of any genus in New Guinea. It seems certain that far too many species have been described, but where to draw the line between lumping and splitting is far from clear.