Oberonia radicans Schltr. in K.Schum. & Lauterb., Nachtr. Fl. Deutsch. Schutzgeb. Südsee (1905) 113
Type: Schlechter 15739 (holo B, lost)
Epiphytic, decumbent. Stem leafy, rooting, creeping, producing secondary stems from the leaf-axils. Leaves patent or erect-patent, narrowly lanceolate, shortly acuminate or acute, sheathing at the base, 1.5-2.5 cm long, near the middle 0.25-0.35 cm wide. Inflorescence terminal, densely many-flowered, surpassing the upper leaves, c. 2 cm long, 0.3 cm diam. across the flowers. Floral bracts lanceolate, acuminate, as long as the ovary. Flowers 0.1 cm diam. Sepals oblong, obtuse, patent. Lateral sepals oblique. Petals as long as the sepals but a little narrower. Lip at the base subcordate-auriculate, ovate, indistinctly 3-lobed; lateral lobes inconspicuous; mid-lobe ligulate, at the apex produced into two triangular teeth with a minute tooth in between. Column rather thick, short. Anther rounded, in front subacute. Ovary shortly pedicellate, , hardly more than 0.05 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1905)
Colours: Flowers golden yellow.
Habitat: Epiphyte in (lower) montane forest; 600 to 2100 m.
Flowering time in the wild: January, April.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 485-303M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.