Octarrhena brassii (L.O.Williams) Schuit., Blumea 48 (2003) 512
Basionym: Chitonanthera brassii
Pendent, epiphytic, to about 20 cm long. Stems slender, fractiflex, covered with the bases of the leaves or exposed in age, internodes 0.4-0.5 cm long. Leaves 0.6-1 by 0.1-0.2 cm broad, linear to oblong-linear, straight or falcate, acute or subulate, erect-spreading, laterally compressed, articulate; leaf-sheaths covering the stem, decurrent, extended above into a petiole which is about 0.2 cm long and similar to the leaf blade. Inflorescence 1- to 3-flowered, shorter than the subtending leaf. Sepals united into a short tube at the base. Median sepal about 0.2 by 0.1-0.13 cm, ovate-lanceolate, acute, boat-shaped. Lateral sepals 0.2-0.25 by 0.15 cm, ovate, slightly oblique. Petals about 0.06-0.1 by 0.01 cm, linear, obtuse, puberulous. Lip about 0.15 by 0.03 cm, linear, obtuse, puberulous above and laterally but glabrous below, attached near the base of the column. Column about 0.07 cm long; pollinia four. (After Williams, 1946)
Colours: Flowers brown.
Habitat: Epiphyte in upper montane forest; 2400 m.
Flowering time in the wild: Not recorded (between May and September).
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea, endemic).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 486-64M.JPG.
Cultivation: Cool growing epiphyte.