Oberonia arcuata Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1911) 162
Type: Schlechter 16901 (holo B, lost)
Epiphytic, erect, small, several-stemmed, to 7 cm high. Rhizome very short; roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, glabrous. Stems densely 7-8-leaved, indistinctly flexuose, entirely hidden by the leaf-bases, up to 4 cm long. Leaves erect-patent, linear, sharply acute, sometimes subfalcate-oblique, 2-3.5 cm long, at the base 0.2-0.3 cm wide. Inflorescence carrying flowers up to the base, curved, densely many-flowered, up to 3.5 cm long, c. 0.45 cm diam. across the flowers. Floral bracts lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous, margins subdentate, almost as long as the ovary. Flowers very small, patent, glabrous. Sepals broadly elliptic, obtuse, 0.08 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique. Petals obliquely oblong, obtuse, glabrous, a little shorter than the sepals. Lip a little longer than the sepals, in the middle 0.05 cm wide, at the base auriculate-cordate, in outline subquadrate, a little constricted above the base, at the apex shortly and obtusely bilobulate. Column very short, rather thick, glabrous. Anther subreniform, obtuse. Ovary cylindrical, glabrous, including the pedicel c. 0.15 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Flowers brown.
Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest; 800 to 1500 m.
Flowering time in the wild: January, November.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 485-17M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.