Phreatia oxyantheroides Schltr. in K.Schum. & Lauterb., Nachtr. Fl. Deutsch. Schutzgeb. Südsee (1905) 189
Type: Schlechter 14628 (holo B, lost)
Epiphytic, erect, to 15 cm high; roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, glabrous. Stem almost lacking, 7-9-leaved. Leaves erect-patent, linear-oblong, apex unequally bilobed, 7-12 cm long, 1.5-1.8 cm wide, papyraceous; leaf-sheaths flattened, equitant, 3-4 cm long. Inflorescence erect-patent, with a few acuminate peduncle-scales, almost as long as the leaves. Floral bracts lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous, the lower ones longer than the ovary, the upper ones shorter. Sepals ovate-oblong, obtuse, 0.1 cm long. Lateral sepals dilated along the front margins. Petals elliptic-oblong subobtuse, almost as long as the sepals. Lip rhombic-suborbicular, obtuse, near the base on either side lobulate. Column very short; clinandrium dorsally obtusely 1-lobulate; rostellum low, obtusely triangular-bidentate. Anther rounded, in front broadly obtuse. Ovary clavate, glabrous, including the pedicel 0.2 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1905)
Colours: Flower pure white.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lowland forest; 5 to 600 m.
Flowering time in the wild: April, June.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 549-174M.JPG.
Cultivation: Warm growing epiphyte.