Appendicula aberrans Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 343
Type: Schlechter 18794 (holo B, lost; iso AMES, BO, K, L)
Epiphyte or almost terrestrial on tree-trunks, up to 40 cm high; rhizome ascending, elongated or short; roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, puberulous; stems unbranched or sparsely branched, thinly terete, densely leafy, entirely covered by the closely appressed leaf-sheaths, up to 0.3 cm diameter; leaves erect-patent, linear or linear-ligulate, obliquely finely mucronate, glabrous, 2.5-4 cm long, near the middle 0.2-0.5 cm wide. Inflorescences terminal, somewhat patent, laxly 4-9-flowered, up to 3.5 cm long; bracts rhombic-ovate, acuminate, margins minutely dentate-lacerate, more than twice as long as the ovary. Flowers glabrous. Sepals ovate, obtuse, 0.43 cm long. Lateral sepals strongly oblique, at the base along the front margins lobed-dilated, mentum oblongoid, broadly obtuse, 0.35 cm long. Petals obliquely oblong, truncate-broadly obtuse, towards the base somewhat dilated, 0.38 cm long. Lip obovate-spathulate, apex obtusely gibbose-apiculate, 0.6 cm long, above the middle 0.3 cm wide, in the basal third with a transverse, clawed appendage pointing towards the base of the lip and which on either side projects beyond the margin of the lip. Column short, rostellum short, erect, bidentate. Anther umbonate, very broadly, ovate, in front tridentate, glabrous; pollinia 6, falcate-oblique, unequal-sized, viscidium small, rounded. Ovary cylindrical, glabrous, 0.4 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Flower white with a rose-red spot on the apices of the sepals and petals.
Habitat: Epiphyte in upper montane forest in shaded positions. Altitude 1750-2500 m.
Flowering time in the wild: January, May, July, September.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea. See map: 57-5M.JPG
Cultivation: Cool growing epiphyte, keep in shade.