Hymenorchis saccata Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1913) 995
Type: Schlechter 17240 (holo B, lost)
Epiphyte, erect, up to 4 cm high; roots filiform, glabrous; stems short, up to 3 cm long, 0.15 cm diameter, entirely covered by the rugulose leaf-sheaths with fimbriate-lacerate margins; leaves patent oblong, apiculate, carnose, margins minutely serrate, 1-1.5 cm long, near the middle 0.4-0.6 cm wide. Inflorescences short, few-flowered, peduncle very short, with a few peduncle-scales; bracts ovate, apiculate, about as long as the ovary. Flowers thin, glabrous. Sepals apiculate, margin serrulate, keeled outside, 0.55 cm long. Median sepal oblong. Lateral sepals obliquely oblong-elliptic. Petals elliptic, 0.45 cm long, apiculate, margins minutely serrulate. Lip entire, elliptic, obtuse, 0.28 cm long, spur oblongoid, obtuse, backwards-pointing, 0.2 cm long. Column short, glabrous, at the base contracted, rostellum ascending, bifid. Anther ovate-cucullate, acuminate; pollinia globose, stipe linear, viscidium large. Ovary cylindrical-6-keeled, 0.3 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Flower yellow-green.
Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest. Altitude 1100 m.
Flowering time in the wild: January.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 375-7M.JPG
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.