Cryptostylis gracilis Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 16 (1919) 103
Type: Kempter s.n. (Kaiser Wilhelmsland, area behind Vanimo) (holo B, lost)
Terrestrial, erect, slender, 23-30 cm high. Roots fascicled, somewhat carnose, finely villose, flexuose. Leaves basal, 1-3, suberect or erect, petiolate, glabrous, blade oblong or elliptic, acuminate, at the base cuneate, 6-9 cm long, near the middle 1.1-2.2 cm wide, petiole channelled, slender, 2-4 cm long; Inflorescence slender, terete, with a few small, distant, acuminate, tightly clasping scales, glabrous; rachis densely 8-15-flowered, to 6 cm long. Floral bracts erect-patent, lanceolate-oblong, acuminate, about half as long as the sessile ovary. Flowers erect-patent, not resupinate. Sepals patent, ligulate-lanceolate, rather obtuse, with recurved margins, 1 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique. Petals patent, obliquely linear, rather obtuse, margins recurved, 0.8 cm long. Lip erect, at the base broadly triangular, concave, oblong, obtuse, densely and very shortly papillose, outside glabrous, epichile concave, with papillose margins, inside with a double keel decurrent towards the base, lip in total 1.1 cm long, near the base 0.5 cm wide, in basal third 0.33 cm wide, in apical third 0.35 cm wide. Column short. Ovary sessile, slender cylindrical, glabrous. 0.7 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1919).
Colours: Not recorded.
Habitat: Terrestrial, probably in montane forest.
Flowering time in the wild: Not known
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 192-21M.JPG
Cultivation: Terrestrial, proably requires a shaded position.