Phreatia cylindrostachya Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1913) 944
Type: Schlechter 20140 (holo B, lost); para: Schlechter 19706 (also B); 20221 (B, lost)
Epiphytic, erect, 16-35 cm high. Rhizome very short; roots filiform, glabrous. Pseudobulbs close together, subglobose, c. 1 cm high and wide, slightly laterally flattened, 1-leaved. Leaf erect, oblanceolate-ligulate, gradually somewhat narrowed to the base, 9-15 cm long, above the middle 1.4-1.8 cm wide, subobtuse. Inflorescence densely many-flowered, distinctly overtopping the leaf, to 35 cm long; peduncle with 5-7 distant scales, often almost as long as the leaf; rachis 6-17 cm long, raceme cylindrical, c. 7 mm diam. across the flowers. Floral bracts ovate, acuminate, as long as the ovary. Flowers very small, not resupinate. Sepals broadly elliptic, apiculate, glabrous, c. 0.2 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique, front margin towards the base a little dilated. Petal obliquely ovate, acute or almost acuminate, glabrous, a little shorter than the sepals. Lip without claw, oblong-square, obtuse, in basal half inside minutely papillose-puberulous, 0.18 by 0.09 cm, spur oblongoid, obtuse, parallel to the blade, less than half as long. Column short; rostellum slender, about as long as the clinandrium. Anther cordate-cucullate, strongly umbonate; pollinia obliquely pyriform; stipe linear, shorter than the pollinia; viscidium linear-elliptic. Ovary subsessile, glabrous, c. 0.23 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Flowers white.
Habitat: Epiphyte in primary (lower) montane forest, also in secondsary fortest; 700 to 2833 m.
Flowering time in the wild: June, August, September, October, November.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea), Solomon Islands.
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 549-58M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.