Glomera leucomela (Schltr.) J.J.Sm., Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, sér. 2, 8 (1912) 14
Basionym: Glossorhyncha leucomela
Epiphyte, small, erect or suberect, 5 cm high; rhizome very short, roots filiform elongated, flexuose, glabrous; stems unbranched or sparsely branched, very small, terete, densely leafy, entirely covered by the leaf-sheaths; leaves erect-patent or patent, ligulate, obtuse, at the base subpetiolate-narrowed, carnose, glabrous, 0.5-0.7 cm long, near the middle 0.13-0.15 cm wide; sheaths closely appressed, nervose-striate, weakly verruculose, apical margin fimbriate-ciliate with several appressed setae. Flowers solitary, glabrous. Spathe broadly elliptic, apiculate, cucullate-clasping, smooth. Floral bracts similar to but smaller than the spathe, hyaline. Sepals oblong, subacute, glabrous, 0.8 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique, at the base somewhat dilated along the front margin. Petals broadly elliptic, oblique, acute, glabrous, only slightly longer than the sepals, but distinctly wider than the median sepal. Lip obovate, obtuse, 0.35 cm long, above the middle 0.25 cm wide, spur oblongoid, obtuse, 0.3 cm long. Column short, about half as long as the lip, glabrous, clinandrium broadly triangular, apiculate, sublobulate. Anther obovate-cucullate, dorsally with a conical swelling, glabrous, in front shortly bilobulate. Ovary cylindrical, glabrous, 0.35 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914, as Glossorhyncha leucomela Schltr.)
Colours: Flower whitish, lip apex black.
Habitat: Epiphyte in upper montane forest. Altitude 2400 m.
Flowering time in the wild: Not known
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 322-78M.JPG
Cultivation: Cool growing epiphyte.