Appendicula humilis

Appendicula humilis Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 353

Type: Schlechter 20089 (holo B, lost; specimens in AMES, BO and K named as A. humilis, but with the number 20029 are A. dendrobioides)

Epiphyte, erect, small, 15-25 cm high; rhizome very short; roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, puberulous; stems unbranched, straight or almost straight, leafy, thinly terete, entirely covered by the leaf-sheaths, 0.2-0.3 cm diameter; leaves subpatent or erect-patent, lanceolate-ligulate, apex bidentate with a setiform apiculum, 3-5 cm long, in the middle or below the middle 0.5-1.2 cm wide. Inflorescences terminal, somewhat patent, rather densely 10-20-flowered, up to 3 cm long; bracts soon becoming reflexed, oblongs, obtuse, much shorter than the pedicellate ovary, flowers patent, glabrous. Sepals oblong, minutely apiculate, 0.5 cm long. Lateral sepals strongly oblique, at the base lobed-dilated along the front margin, mentum oblongoid, obtuse, dorsally oblique, 0.4 cm long. Petals obliquely oblong-ligulate, obtuse, at the base somewhat decurrent, above the middle somewhat dilated, somewhat shorter than the sepals. Lip in outline oblong-subpandurate, dilated above the middle, broadly obtuse, 0.8 cm long, above the middle 0.4 cm wide, at the apex with a minute swelling, above the base with a horseshoe-shaped lamella, the ?legs? lyre-like curved, decurrent to the margins above the middle of the lip. Column short, rostellum medium-sized, bidentate. Anther ovate-cordate, acuminate, umbonate; pollinia obliquely clavate, unequal-sized, stipe slender, forked, as long as the pollinia, viscidium minute, rounded. Ovary cylindrical, glabrous, 0.7 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)

Colours: Flower whitish-yellow, petals and lip white, the lip in the centre with red markings.

Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest in shaded positions. Altitude 900 m.

Flowering time in the wild: September.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 57-86M.JPG

Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte, keep in shade.

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