Corybas arachnoideus (Schltr.) Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 19 (1923) 21
Basionym: Corysanthes arachnoidea
Terrestrial, very small, 3-4 cm tall. Roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, puberulous. Leaf patent or often appressed to the soil, ovate, cordate, acuminate to sharply acuminate, 1.3-1.7 cm long, below the middle 0.7-0.9 cm broad. Flower subsessile, erect. Floral bracts lanceolate, acuminate, about twice as long as the short ovary. Median sepal lanceolate, ligulate, acuminate, above the middle somewhat dilated, glabrous, about 1.2 cm long, lateral sepals ascending, linear-filiform, sharply acute, 2.3 cm long. Petals very similar to the sepals, erect, 2.5 cm long. Lip above the cucullate base expanded into a suborbicular blade, slightly retuse and apiculate at the apex, margins minutely serrate, as long as the median sepal, with a very small rounded umbo in the throat, with very small, basal, divergent, conical spurs. Column very small. Ovary oblongoid-cylindrical, glabrous, 2.5 mm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914, as Corysanthes arachnoidea Schltr.).
Colours: Flower whitish, on the lip with a broad red band parallel with the margin.
Habitat: Terrestrial in moss among leaf-litter in lower montane forest. Altitude 1000 m.
Flowering time in the wild: September.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea. See map: 178-14M.JPG
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte, needs humus-rich, well-drained soil and a shaded position.