Malaxis keysseri (Mansf.) W.Kittr., Bot. Mus. Leafl. 30 (1984, publ. 1985) 96
Basionym: Microstylis keysseri
Erect, 60 cm high. Roots filiform, flexuose, puberulous. Stem short, 3-leaved, up to 6 cm long. Leaves erect-patent, petiolate; blade 5-18 by 3-5.5 cm, elliptic or ovate-elliptic, acuminate, at the base narrowed into the petiole or somewhat rounded; petiole broad, 5 cm long, at the base dilated into a sheath. Inflorescence straight, erect, glabrous, c. 50 cm long, almost up to the base laxly many-flowered. Floral bracts narrowly lanceolate or subulate, 0.3-0.4 by 0.06 cm, reflexed. Flowers 0.6 cm across, patent. Median sepal oblong, obtuse, 0.48 by 0.1 cm. Lateral sepals obliquely oblong, as long as the median sepal but a little wider. Petals linear-oblong, obtuse, 0.48 by 0.03 cm. Lip erect, in outline sagittate, auriculate, 0.7 by 0.4 cm, basal pit triangular with puberulous swollen margins, lip-margins near the apex c. 5-dentate, apex produced into a triangular-ovate lobule; basal auricles triangular, acute, apical margins irregularly erose. Column c. 0.1 cm long. Ovary glabrous, including the pedicel 0.4 cm long. (After Mansfeld, 1929, as Microstylis keysseri)
Colours: Not recorded.
Habitat: Probably terrestrial in upper montane forest; 3000 m.
Flowering time in the wild: Not recorded.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 431-184M.JPG.
Cultivation: Probably cool growing terrestrial, keep in shaded position.
Notes: The stated altitude may be incorrect, as many of Keysser's collections apparently were routinely labelled as having been found at 3000 m even though they must have come from much lower elevations.