Calymmanthera major Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1913) 957
Type: Schlechter 16333 (holo B, lost)
Epiphyte, stout for the genus; roots flexuose, glabrous; stem short, somewhat thickened, up to 10 cm long, 0.5 cm diameter, densely leafy, covered by the striate leaf-sheaths; leaves erect-patent, ligulate, apex oblique, pointed, coriaceous, 10-13 cm long, near the middle 1.7-2.2 cm wide; Inflorescence strongly branched, laxly many-flowered, 25-30 cm long, peduncle as long as the leaves, slightly rigid; bracts minute, half as long as the ovary. Flowers minute, glabrous. Sepals lanceolate, subacute, 0.25 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique. Petals similar to and about as long as the sepals. Lip 3-lobed, 0.15 cm long, lateral lobes basal, quadrate, broadly obtuse, mid-lobe ovate-lanceolate, narrowly obtuse, twice as long; pollinia subglobose, stipe broadly spathulate, somewhat longer than the pollinia, viscidium subquadrate, as large as the pollinia. Ovary cylindrical, glabrous, 0.13 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Flower yellow.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lowland forest. Altitude 400 m.
Flowering time in the wild: July.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea), Solomon Islands, Fiji.
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 109-2M.JPG
Cultivation: Warm growing epiphyte.