Arachnis longicaulis (Schltr.) L.O.Williams, Bot. Mus. Leafl. 5 (1937) 31
Basionym: Vandopsis longicaulis
Epiphytic, pendent, up to 2 m long. Roots flexuose, glabrous. Stem unbranched, many-leaved, covered with tightly clasping rugulose sheaths, 1 cm diam. Leaves patent, oblong-ligulate, obtusely and unequally bilobed, 16-20 cm long, near the middle 3-4 cm wide. Racemes pendent, laxly several-flowered, as long as the leaves or a little shorter, peduncle short, with a few scales. Floral bracts oblongoid-cucullate, obtuse, slightly recurved, much shorter than the ovary. Flowers c. 4-7, patent, glabrous. Sepals broadly elliptic, obtuse, towards the base spathulate-narrowed, c. 3 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique. Petals similar to the sepals but a little smaller. Lip small, cucullate, 1.4 cm long, lateral lobes semiquadrate, broadly obtuse, mid-lobe lanceolate, acuminate, incurved, inside with raised thickened keels. Column thick, short; pollinia obliquely rhombic; stipe oblong, acuminate; viscidium triangular-transverse, in front rounded. Ovary cylindrical, glabrous, 2 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914, as Vandopsis longicaulis Schltr.).
Colours: Flower whitish with large red-brown blotches, lip in the apical part violet-pink, column violet-pink with white anther.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lowland forest. Altitude 150-750 m.
Flowering time in the wild: January, October.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, The Philippines).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 59-22M.JPG
Cultivation: Warm growing epiphyte.