Podochilus imitans Schltr. in K.Schum. & Lauterb., Nachtr. Fl. Deutsch. Schutzgeb. Südsee (1905) 118
Type: Schlechter 14370 (holo B, lost; iso BRI? (s.n.))
Epiphytic, erect or suberect, many-stemmed; 12-20 cm high; roots filiform, elongated, flexuose, glabrous. Stems unbranched, thinly terete; densely leafy, entirely covered with the persistent, tightly clasping leaf-sheaths. Leaves erect-patent, narrowly lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, tip bristle-like apiculate, 0.7-1.2 cm long, in basal half 0.15-0.25 cm wide. Inflorescences terminal, pendent, distichous, rather lax, 7-20 flowered, usually distinctly surpassing the upper leaves. Floral bracts erect-patent, very small, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, almost as long as the ovary. Flowers erect-patent. Sepals connate up to the middle, 0.25 cm long, acute. Median sepal oblong. Lateral sepals along the front margin in basal half conspicuously dilated, forming a subglobose mentum. Petals erect, oblique, oblong-spathulate, obtuse, in front in the basal half lobed-dilated, a little shorter than the sepals. Lip bifid at the base, in total 0.25 cm long, the blade oblong-ligulate, constricted in the middle, with two somewhat fleshy [incurved] tightly appressed [lateral] lobes, apical part elliptic-ovate, obtuse. Column short, with much elongated foot; rostellum erect, deeply bifid, in front at the base of the stigma with an elongated, subulate, erect tooth. Anther cordate-lanceolate, narrowed towards the apex, shallowly incised; pollinia 4, obliquely oblanceolate; stipes 2, slender; viscidium oblanceolate, acute. (After Schlechter, 1905)
Colours: Flowers pure white.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lowland and lower montane forest; 5 to 900 m.
Flowering time in the wild: February, March, April, May, July, August, September, October, November.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea. See map: 568-57M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.
Note: Similar to the West Malesian Podochilus lucescens Blume, but with smaller flowers.