Mediocalcar versteegii amphigeneum

Mediocalcar versteegii J.J.Sm. subsp. amphigeneum Schuit., Orchid Monogr. 8 (1997) 68, fig. 26

Type: Brass 27859 (holo L; iso AMES, K, LAE, S)

Pseudobulbs obliquely ovoid, 2-15 mm apart, 0.8-1.4 cm long, 3-5 mm across, largely adnate to the rhizome; free top prostrate to suberect, 2-4 mm long. Leaves one per pseudobulb, sessile, lanceolate (index 5.5-8.5), 5.5-8.5 cm by 8-15 mm; gradually narrowing towards the base, apex obtuse, unequally bilobed, mucronate, with the mucro about as long as the lobes; coriaceous. Inflorescences usually in pairs, sometimes solitary, both heteranthous and synanthous on the same specimen. Peduncle 8-12 mm long, at the apex with a triangular bract 1-2 mm long. Pedicel and ovary c. 10 mm long. Flowers urceolate-globose, oblique, c. 10 mm long. Free tips slightly spreading to reflexed, c. 4 mm long, apices subacute. Petals lanceolate (index c. 7) c. 7 by 1 mm; apex acute to acuminate; 3-nerved. Lip c. 7.5 by c. 2 mm in natural position, the blade broadly ovate when flattened; claw c. 1.8 by 1.5 mm; auricles 0.6 mm long, hardly recurved; apex acute to acuminate, porrect; margins erect, clasping the column; spur broadly cylindrical, recurved, parallel to the column, as long as the claw; c. 2 mm long, c. 2 mm wide just below the mouth. Column broadly clavate, c. 3.5 mm long, c. 1.5 mm wide at the apex, foot 0.5 mm long. Fruit not seen. (After Schuiteman, 1997)

Colours: Flowers orange with yellow tips to the sepals, petals and lip.

Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest; 600 m.

Flowering time in the wild: August.

Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 436-65M.JPG.

Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.

Notes: Close to subsp. versteegii, but with usually paired inflorescences and shorter, more widely spaced pseudobulbs.

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