Rhomboda alticola (Schltr.) Ormerod, Orchadian 11 (1995) 334
Basionym: Zeuxine alticola
Terrestrial, erect, 30-50 cm high. Rhizome decumbent, stem-like; roots flexuose, villose. Stem terete, glabrous, 3- to 5-leaved. Leaves erect-patent or suberect, petiolate; blade obliquely elliptic, acuminate, rounded at the base, glabrous, 5-10 cm long, at the middle or just below the middle 2.2-4 cm wide; petiole dilated at the base, sheathing, 2.5-4.5 cm long. Peduncle with a few distant, lanceolate, acuminate scales; rachis rather laxly many-flowered, elongated, cylindrical, to 17 cm long, 2-2.3 cm diam. across the flowers. Floral bracts ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, usually a little shorter than the ovary. Flowers erect-patent. Median sepal ovate, subobtusely acuminate, almost glabrous, 0.6 cm long. Lateral sepals obliquely oblong, subobtuse, almost glabrous, almost as long as the median sepal. Petals obliquely elliptic, apiculate, distinctly expanded along the front margin, glabrous, about as long as the median sepal and adhering to it along their inner margins. Lip at the base oblong-cucullate with two oblong-falcate, large papillae, towards the apex gradually elongated into a slightly narrower claw with inflexed margins, at the apex expanded into a reniform, apiculate, conduplicate, very small lobe; whole lip glabrous, 0.7 cm long, apical lobe 0.15 cm long, 0.2 cm wide. Column globose, in front with two curved lamellae, glabrous; rostellum short, bifid-bidentate. Anther reniform-cucullate, cordate, shortly acuminate, glabrous; pollinia obliquely clavate; viscidium large, rounded. Ovary cylindrical, glabrous, c. 1 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Leaves above dark green with silvery white median band, below dark red, as are the stem and the leaf-sheaths. Sepals outside red-brown, petals and lip white.
Habitat: Terrestrial in montane forest; 2000 to 2650 m.
Flowering time in the wild: July, August, September, November.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 606-2M.JPG.
Cultivation: Cool growing terrestrial, requires shaded position.