Pseudovanilla gracilis (Schltr.) Garay, Bot. Mus. Leafl. 30, 4 (1986) 235
Basionym: Galeola gracilis
Leafless climber, to 10 m long; roots elongated, filiform, flexuose, glabrous. Stem branching, terete, glabrous, 0.5-0.7 cm diam.; scales broadly ovate, subobtusely acuminate, c. 1 cm long, glabrous, rather rigid, 7-8 cm distant. Inflorescence very much branched, near the apices of the branches 5- to 15-flowered. Floral bracts minute, deltoid, glabrous. Flowers patent. Sepals ligulate, obtuse, glabrous, 1.6 by 0.4 cm. Lateral sepals slightly oblique, towards the base slightly narrowed. Petals similar to the lateral sepals but a little narrower and more thin-textured, obtuse, glabrous, mid-vein thickened on inside. Lip obovate-cuneate, 1.5 by 0.9 cm, apex rounded, subretuse, in apical half with undulate margins, inside with irregular protuberances and in the apical half rough because of numerous warts; median keel linear, band-like, in front 3-dentate, glabrous, extending from the base of the lip to the apical fourth. Column slender, at the very base adnate to the base of the lip, glabrous, 1.1 cm long, dilated at the apex; clinandrium minutely denticulate. Anther deeply helmet-shaped, dorsally 3-lobulate, in front rounded. Ovary cylindrical, glabrous, c. 0.9 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Flowers light yellow, warts on the lip golden yellow in the apical part, red-brown in the basal part.
Habitat: Terrestrial in forest and forest margins along clearings; 30 to 1333 m.
Flowering time in the wild: May, July, August, September, October, November.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea), Solomon Islands.
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea. See map: 590-4M.JPG.