Eria maboroensis

Eria maboroensis Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 658

Type: Schlechter 19543 (holo B, lost)

Epiphyte, erect, 25-30 cm high; rhizome very short; roots thin, filiform, elongated, flexuose, minutely puberulous; pseudobulbs close together, cylindrical, covered with closely appressed sheaths which soon dry out, at apex 2-4-leaved, 9-16 cm high, above the middle 0.4-0.7 cm diameter; leaves erect-patent, ligulate or linear-ligulate, narrowly obtuse, gradually subpetiolate-narrowed at the base, glabrous, 11 -14 cm long, near the middle 0.9-1.7 cm wide? Inflorescences lateral near the apex of the pseudobulbs, erect-patent, very laxly 10-18-flowered, slightly more than half as long as the leaves, peduncle short; bracts weakly recurved, elliptic, apiculate, about half as long as the ovary. Flowers erect-patent, glabrous. Sepals lanceolate, acute, 0.95 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique, at the base somewhat dilated along the front margin, mentum very short, obtuse. Petals obliquely lanceolate-ligulate, acute, 0.7 cm long. Lip lanceolate, subacute, glabrous, at the base broadly cuneate, 0.4 cm long, below the middle 0.2 cm wide, below the middle with two low, obtuse lamellae parallel along the lip-margins. Column semiterete, glabrous, 0.2 cm high, column-foot short, lateral lobes of the clinandrium rounded-truncate, median lobe small. Anther subreniform-cucullate, notched in front. Ovary subpedicellate, glabrous, very slender, 0.6 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)

Colours: Flower white with yellow tips, lip in basal half deep cherry-red, in apical part light yellow.

Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest. Altitude 1200 m.

Flowering time in the wild: May.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 282-431M.JPG

Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.

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