Pachystoma pubescens Blume, Bijdr. (1825) 376; Tab. & Pl. Jav. Orchid. (1825) t. 29
Type: Blume s.n. (Tjiradjas, Krawang Prov.) (holo L, possibly, the only Blume specimen in L is Blume 1529 annotated as 'Pachichilus javanicus' Blume)
Rhizome horizontal, fleshy, c. 6 cm long. Leaves absent at flowering time, 1 or 2, narrowly linear, c. 30 by 0.7 cm, acuminate. Inflorescence erect, elongated, laxly c. 6-15-flowered, with the flowers more or less turned to one side; peduncle 42-56 cm long; peduncle-scales tubular, acute, becoming smaller towards the apex, to c. 7.5 cm long; rachis very sparsely pubescent, 5-11 cm long. Floral bracts linear-lanceolate, gradually acuminate, at the base dilated and slightly puberulous, somewhat transparent, membranous, 7-nerved, to 3 cm long, upper ones smaller. Sepals outside puberulous. Median sepal oblong, obtuse, concave, 1.25 by 0.46 cm. Lateral sepals obliquely oblong, shortly acuminate, acute, especially near the base concave, 5-nerved, 1.35 by 0.43 cm. Petals linear-lanceolate, towards the apex somewhat dilated, obtuse, apiculate, 3-nerved, outside especially near the base as well as inside sparsely puberulous, very sparsely ciliolate, 1.3 by 0.23 cm. Lip at the base together with the column-foot forming a short sac enveloping the base of the lateral sepals, clawed, 3-lobed, when flattened 1.2 cm by 0.9-1.1 cm, at the base with a glabrous concavity delimited by a transverse thickening, in the basal part inside and outside puberulous and with two basally puberulous keels, in the middle with three keels, at the base of the mid-lobe with two short additional keels, all keels warty, the median keel longest; lateral lobes erect, surpassing the column, broadly obliquely subovate, broadly obtuse, inside very sparsely puberulous; mid-lobe square-obcordate or almost quadrangular, 0.4 cm long and wide, emarginate, sometimes with a triangular apicule in the sinus, crenate, inside with a few scattered hairs. Column very slender, 0.75 cm long, making an obtuse angle with the ovary, curved, puberulous, at the apex subglobose-swollen, 3-lobulate, median lobule (filament) truncate, almost bilobulate, lateral lobules (auricles) larger, broad, rounded, outside convex; clinandrium broad, deeply concave; stigma large, transverse, deeply concave, lower margins thin; column-foot very short, concave, at the base with a densely puberulous thickening, 0.15 cm long. Anther subreniform, slightly puberulous; pollinia 8, laterally flattened, pear-shaped. Pedicel and ovary velvety hairy, ovary 0.6-0.7 cm long, pedicel much more slender, 0.2-0.3 cm long. (After Smith, 1909)
Colours: Sepals and petals pale pinkish tinged magenta, lip pale pinkish, the keels and the parts between the keels greenish yellow.
Habitat: Terrestrial in lowland (often Imperata) grassland; 150 to 560 m.
Flowering time in the wild: September, October, November.
Distribution: Malesia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi, Lesser Sunda Islands, Moluccas, New Guinea, Philippines), India to China, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Taiwan, Australia, Vanuatu, New Caledonia.
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea. See map: 518-19M.JPG.
Cultivation: Warm growing terrestrial, requires light position.