Malaxis cyanobrachia

Malaxis cyanobrachia (Schltr.) W.Kittr., Bot. Mus. Leafl. 30 (1984, publ. 1985) 96 ('cyanobrachis')

Basionym: Microstylis cyanobrachia

Terrestrial, erect, c. 18 cm high. Roots flexuose, densely pilose; rhizome very short. Stem short, c. 4-leaved, cylindrical, c. 3 cm long, near the middle 0.4 cm diam. Leaves suberect, petiolate, glabrous; blade obliquely linear-ligulate, acute, 5-8.5 cm by 0.5-1 cm; petiole 2.5-3 cm long. Inflorescence slender, erect; peduncle almost straight, angular, 12-13 cm long; rachis densely 15- to 20-flowered, erect, to 4 cm long. Floral bracts spreading, lanceolate, acuminate, usually more than twice as long as the ovary. Flowers not resupinate, glabrous. Sepals elliptic, subobtuse, 3-nerved, 0.4 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique, almost broadly elliptic. Petals obliquely ovate, subacute, 1-nerved, a little shorter than the sepals. Lip erect, in outline ovate-lyrate, at the base deeply sagittate, excluding the basal auricles 0.23 cm long, at the dilated base 0.2 cm wide, in apical half distinctly narrowed, quadrate, at the apex apiculate, below the apex inside with two slightly divergent, short keels; basal auricles rather large, obliquely triangular at the base, curved-acuminate, along their interior margin 0.1 cm long. Column straight, relatively slender, similar to that of Malaxis zippelii, arms oblong-ligulate, obtuse, almost as long as the column itself. Ovary pedicellate, glabrous, 0.15 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1921)

Colours: Not recorded, except that the column arms are dark blue.

Habitat: Not recorded.

Flowering time in the wild: Not recorded.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea, Waria River area, exact locality not recorded.

Cultivation: Terrestrial. Requirements unknown.

%LABEL% (%SOURCE%)