Appendicula oblonga

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

Type: Schlechter 18560 (holo B, lost)

Epiphyte, erect, 20 cm high; rhizome very short, roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, shortly villose; stems unbranched, straight or almost straight, thinly terete, densely leafy, entirely covered by the closely appressed leaf-sheaths; leaves erect-patent, oblong-ligulate, narrowly obtuse, apex unequally and minutely bilobulate with a minute setiform apiculum, 2-3.3 cm long, near the middle 0.6-0.9 cm wide; Inflorescence terminal or lateral near the stem apex, somewhat patent, 6-7 cm long, rather laxly many-flowered; bracts reflexed; lanceolate, acuminate, slightly more than half as long as the ovary. Flowers patent, glabrous. Sepals ovate, 0.35 cm long. Median sepal narrowly obtuse. Lateral sepals subacute, strongly oblique, at the base lobed-dilated along the front margin, mentum oblongoid, obtuse, 0.3 cm long. Petals obliquely oblong, obtuse, somewhat shorter than the sepals. Lip in outline oblong, in total 0.5 cm long, 0.25 cm wide in the middle, in front obtusely apiculate, at the base somewhat concave, with a horseshoe-shaped lamella with almost parallel ?legs?, decurrent and disappearing in the middle of the lip. Column short, without rostellum. Anther reniform; notched in front, with a reniform umbo. Ovary with pedicel, clavate, glabrous, 0.6 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)

Colours: Flower yellow-green, petals with red margins, lip with large red stripes and red margins in the middle.

Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest in shaded positions. Altitude 1300 m.

Flowering time in the wild: October.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 57-140M.JPG

Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte, keep in shade.

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