Phreatia laxa Schltr. in K.Schum. & Lauterb., Nachtr. Fl. Deutsch. Schutzgeb. Südsee (1905) 188
Type: Schlechter 14340 (holo B, lost; iso AMES, BO, BR, K, L, P)
Epiphytic, erect, slender, 6-10 cm high. Rhizome short; roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, glabrous. Pseudobulbs subglobose, 0.5 cm high, 0.5 cm diam., 1-2-leaved, covered with 1-2 leaf-like sheaths. Leaves linear, obtuse, narrowed towards the base, erect or erect-patent, papyraceous, glabrous, 5.5-8.5 cm long, near the middle 0.3-0.5 cm wide; leaf-sheaths 0.5-0.8 cm long. Inflorescence erect or erect-patent, curved, secund, almost as long as the leaves, with 4-6 acuminate, clasping peduncle-scales; rachis laxly 15-25-flowered, to 5 cm long. Floral bracts lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous, as long as or a little shorter than the pedicellate ovary. Median sepal ovate, obtuse, glabrous, almost 0.2 cm long. Lateral sepals almost as long as the median sepal, along the margins in front dilated, shortly subacuminate. Petals obliquely ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, 0.15 cm long. Lip at the base almost square-clawed, abruptly dilated into a broadly reniform, 0.25 cm wide blade with shortly acuminate apex. Column very short; stigma low, transverse; rostellum erect, large, lanceolate, notched at the apex. Anther cordate, in front obtusely acuminate; pollinia 8, stipe narrowly linear, very long. Ovary pedicellate, clavate, 0.2 cm long, glabrous. (After Schlechter, 1905)
Colours: Flower pure white.
Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest; 800 to 3100 m.
Flowering time in the wild: April, June, August, October.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea. See map: 549-113M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.