Ceratostylis brachyphylla Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 58 (1922) 73
Type: Ledermann 8617 (holo B, lost)
A tiny, erect, tufted epiphyte, 6-8 cm high. Rhizome very short. Stems subulate, 5-7 cm long, hardly 0.15 cm across, erect, at the base with a few apiculate sheaths, 1-leaved, terete, slender. Leaves erect, short, wing-shaped, 0.5-0.8 cm long, only slightly thinner than the stems, obtuse, terete, slightly grooved, usually hardly surpassing the Floral head. Floral head oblongoid, erect, 0.2-0.3 cm across, surrounded by a few shortly acuminate scales, inflorescences few, 1-flowered, subsessile. Floral bract hyaline, apiculate, about as long as the ovary. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, 0.15 cm long, subacute, base finely pilose, towards the apex glabrous, lateral sepals oblique, at the base along the front margin elongated and connate, forming a semioblongoid, broadly obtuse mentum, only slightly longer than the median sepal. Petals obliquely lanceolate-ligulate, acute, glabrous, about as long as the median sepal. Lip ovate, 0.17 cm long, in apical third carnose-thickened, broadly obtuse, up to the middle with two thin, subparallel keels. Column short, stigma-arms elliptic, obtuse, about a third as long as the lip. Ovary shortly pedicellate, finely pilose, clavate, 0.15 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1922).
Colours: Flower white.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lowland forest. Altitude 100 m.
Flowering time in the wild: September.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 125-21M.JPG
Cultivation: Warm growing epiphyte.