Malaxis pubicallosa

Malaxis pubicallosa (Schltr.) W.Kittr., Bot. Mus. Leafl. 30 (1984, publ. 1985) 97

Basionym: Microstylis pubicallosa

Terrestrial, erect, c. 45 cm high. Rhizome very short; roots filiform, flexuose, puberulous. Stem short, cylindrical, 5- to 6-leaved, to 5 cm long, c. 0.6 cm diam. Leaves erect-patent, petiolate, obliquely elliptic, acuminate; blade 14-20 cm long, near the middle 5.5-6 cm wide; petiole broad, grooved, at the base dilated and sheathing, 8-10 cm long. Inflorescence straight, angular, glabrous; rachis rather densely many-flowered, cylindrical, to 17 cm long, almost 2 cm diam. across the flowers. Floral bracts lanceolate, acuminate, spreading, slightly more than half as long as the pedicellate ovary. Flowers not resupinate, patent. Sepals oblong, obtuse, 0.45 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique, a little broader than the median. Petals obliquely linear-ligulate, obtuse, one-nerved, almost as long as the sepals. Lip erect, in outline crescent-shaped, 3-lobed near the apex, excluding the basal auricles 0.33 cm long, at the base 0.48 cm wide, pit oblong, at the base surrounded by a minutely papillose horseshoe-shaped callus; lateral lobes triangular, obtuse, with 4 falcate, subulate teeth, of which the two inner ones are twice as long as the two outer ones; mid-lobe semioblong, deeply divided into two falcate teeth that are as long as the inner teeth of the lateral lobes but a little broader; basal auricles obliquely triangular-lanceolate, acute, along their interior margin 0.2 cm long. Column semiterete, short, glabrous, almost 0.15 cm long. Ovary 6-ribbed, pedicellate, glabrous, 0.7 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1921)

Colours: Flowers apparently dark purple.

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.

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