Crepidium novoguineense Marg., Szlach. & Kubala, Orchidee 50 (1999) 510
Type: NGF (Womersley) 15216 (holo L; iso LAE)
Pseudobulbs 1.7-4.8 cm long, 0.13-0.2 cm diam., fusiform, ascending, 3- to 5-leaved. Leaves suberect, petiolate; blade 3.2-7.7 by 1.5-2.7 cm, obliquely ovate-lanceolate to oblong-ovate, acuminate, thin-textured; petiole 0.8-2.3 cm long, channelled, widening towards the sheathing base. Inflorescence 12.6-19 cm long, erect; rachis 5.3-10.7 cm long, 16- to 35-flowered. Floral bracts up to 7 mm long, narrowly triangular to narrowly lanceolate, acute to acuminate. Flowers not resupinate. Median sepal 0.85 by 0.25-0.28 cm, oblong-elliptic, rounded to shortly apiculate at apex, indistinctly 5-nerved. Petals 0.8 cm long, 0.19-0.2 cm wide, falcate, narrowly oblong, truncate at apex, 3-nerved. Lateral sepals 0.6-0.65 by up to 0.32 cm, elliptic, rounded to obtuse at apex, with revolute margins, indistinctly 5-nerved. Lip to 1 cm long, to 0.8 cm wide, long auricled; auricles 0.3-0.45 cm long, oblong-ovate to oblong-triangular, acute; blade almost rectangular in outline, with 12 teeth along the apical margin, the two median teeth being the longest, falcate, triangular; basal pit prominent, surrounded by relatively thick rim. Column 0.18-0.19 cm long. Pedicel and ovary to 0.6 cm long, slender. (After Margonska et al., 1999 - Note: a good contestant for the title of ‘least imaginative specific epithet’)
Colours: Flowers pale brown.
Habitat: Terrestrial in upper montane forest; 2700 m.
Flowering time in the wild: July.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 185-235M.JPG.
Cultivation: Cool growing terrestrial, keep in shaded position.
Notes: We consider this to be a species of Malaxis, but to the best of our knowledge there is no name available under this genus. The specific epithet is not exactly imaginative.