Glomera melanocaulon Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 284
Type: Schlechter 19058 (holo B, lost)
Epiphyte, patent, at the base sparsely branched, up to 40 cm long; rhizome very short, roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, glabrous; stems usually curved, slightly compressed, somewhat rigid, leafy, entirely covered by the leaf-sheaths; leaves erect-patent, ligulate, apex strongly unequally bilobulate, obtuse, at the base cuneate, glabrous, slightly carnose, 5-8.5 cm long, near the middle 0.7-0.9 cm wide; sheaths dark brown, closely appressed, apex obliquely truncate, outside towards the apex sparsely warty, 1-1.5 cm long; capitulum subglobose, somewhat elongated, 2 cm wide, 3 cm long, outside covered with broad, apiculate sheaths; bracts very small, hyaline. Flowers glabrous. Sepals oblong; obtuse, 1 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique, connate up to the apical third, at the base shortly saccate-concave. Petals oblique, ligulate-oblong, obtuse, glabrous, at the base somewhat narrowed, somewhat shorter than the sepals. Lip broadly elliptic, at the base slightly narrowed, broadly obtuse, 0.3 cm long, near the middle 0.25 cm wide, spur decurved oblongoid, blade somewhat longer and broader, obtuse. Column very short, glabrous, about one quarter as long as the lip, clinandrium 5-lobulate. Anther broadly cucullate, with obtuse umbo, in front retuse, glabrous. Ovary cylindrical, glabrous, 0.6 cm long, subsessile. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Flower white, lip apex rose-red; anther light brown with white humps.
Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest. Altitude 1300 m.
Flowering time in the wild: January.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 322-85M.JPG
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.