Erythrodes praemorsa

Erythrodes praemorsa Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1911) 62

Type: Schlechter 20023 (holo B, lost)

Terrestrial, erect, 30-35 cm high. Rhizome decumbent, stem-like. Roots elongated, flexuose, villose. Stem straight or almost straight, leafy. Leaves erect-patent, petiolate; blade obliquely ovate-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, glabrous, 4.7-7.5 cm long, below the middle 1.8-3 cm broad; petiole dilated at the base, clasping the stem, 2-3 cm long. Inflorescence densely 15-20-flowered, erect, subsecund, peduncle with a few distant, bract-like, acuminate scales, glabrous, rachis up to 9 cm long. Bracts erect, lanceolate, acuminate, a little shorter than the ovary. Flowers suberect. Sepals oblong, obtuse, 0.6 cm long, outside sparsely glandulose-puberulous. Lateral sepals a little dilated towards the base. Petals clawed, obliquely rhombic, oblanceolate, obtuse, glabrous, as long as and adhering to the median sepal. Lip oblong-cucullate, ending in an equally wide, sharply angled, truncate-praemorse lobe, spur quadrate, to above the middle bipartite, 2.5 mm long. Column short, glabrous, in front provided with a forked keel; rostellum erect, large. Anther ovate-cordate, rostrate-acuminata, cucullate. Ovary cylindrical, glandulose-puberulous, 0.9 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914).

Colours: Sepals brown with white margins, petals and lip lighter, the lip in the apical part white.

Habitat: Terrestrial in hill forest. Altitude 600 m.

Flowering time in the wild: September.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 287-26M.JPG

Cultivation: Warm-intermediate growing terrestrial, requires humus-rich compost and shaded position.

%LABEL% (%SOURCE%)