Liparis scleriifolia Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 58 (1922) 66
Type: Ledermann 10380; 12357 (syn B, lost)
Terrestrial, erect, glabrous, 40-45 cm tall. Rhizome short. Stems close together, very short, ovoid, up to 2 cm long, covered with 4-5 leaves. Leaves erect, linear, to 45 by 1.5 cm, acuminate, narrowed at the base, below with three thick prominent nerves, glabrous. Inflorescences erect, slender, laxly several-flowered, usually hardly longer than the leaves. Floral bracts patent, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, much shorter than the pedicellate ovary. Flowers suberect, glabrous. Sepals reflexed, narrowly lanceolate, 1.5-1.7 cm long, subobtuse, the lateral sepals oblique. Petals narrowly and obliquely linear, subobtuse, at the base along the front margin slightly dilated, as long as the sepals. Lip at the base shortly concave-clawed, broadly elliptic, 1.5 by 1-1.2 cm, porrect, apex shortly and somewhat obtusely apiculate, margins subcrenulate; at the very base with a rather thick, bilobed callus. Column semiterete, almost 0.6 cm long, at the base not conspicuously dilated, slightly dilated near the stigma. Ovary slender pedicellate, glabrous, including the pedicel to 3 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1922)
Colours: Flowers pale brown, lip pinkish white.
Habitat: Terrestrial in montane forest; 780 to 1500 m.
Flowering time in the wild: July, December.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 416-425M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing terrestrial, requires shaded position.