Calanthe aceras Schltr. in K.Schum. & Lauterb., Nachtr. Fl. Deutsch. Schutzgeb. Südsee (1905) 140
Type: Schlechter 14049 (holo B, lost)
Leaves erect-patent, basal, petiolate; petiole 40 cm long, dilated and sheathing at the base; blade broadly lanceolate, 100 by 13 cm, plicate, apex acuminate. Inflorescence racemose, erect, 150-200 cm long, glabrous, peduncle-scales distant, acuminate; rachis to 50 cm long, rather laxely many-flowered. Floral bracts lanceolate, as long as the ovary, acuminate, soon falling off. Pedicel and ovary 2.8 cm long, clavate. Flowers c. 4 cm across. Dorsal sepal narrowly lanceolate-ligulate, a little widened in apical part, 2 cm long, apex narrowly acuminate. Lateral sepals similar, but slightly oblique, 2 cm long, apex narrowly acuminate. Petals patent, subfalcate-lanceolate, narrowing to the base, a little shorter than the dorsal sepal, glabrous, apex acuminate. Lip ovate-subquadrate, slightly constricted in the middle, with a linear, 0.8 cm long claw adnate to the margins of the column, on the claw with two minutely pubescent raised lines, curved and thickened towards the blade; blade 0.8 by 0.8 cm, at base on either side with a minute lanceolate-falcate, acute lobule, front margin serrulate, apex acuminate. Column slender, slightly dilated to the apex, in front minutely pubescent, 1.3 cm long. Anther rounded. Pollinia obliquely clavate, coherent at the base.
(After Schlechter, 1905).
Colours: Sepals and petals yellowish, lip white.
Habitat: Terrestrial along open montane forest margins. Altitude 1500 m.
Flowering time in the wild: January.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea. See map: 101-2M.JPG
Cultivation: Intermediate-cool growing terrestrial, requires light shade.
Note: Easily recognised by the unspurred lip.