Sarcochilus chrysanthus Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1913) 966
Type: Schlechter 17029 (holo B, lost; iso BO, E, K, L, MO, NSW)
Epiphytic, stout, pendent; roots flexuose, glabrous. Stem to 20 cm long, densely leafy, covered with the striate leaf-sheaths, c. 0.7 cm diam. Leaves falcate-ligulate, apex unequally bidentate, 14-25 cm long, near the middle 1.9-3 cm wide. Inflorescences fascicled or single, 1-flowered, with a few scales, subsessile. Floral bracts acuminate, shorter than the ovary. Flowers erect-patent, glabrous. Sepals elliptic, subobtuse, 0.9 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique. Petals similar to the sepals, oblique, c. 0.7 cm long. Lip porrect, including the spur c. 0.5 cm long; lateral lobes obliquely oblong, obtuse; mid-lobe hardly developed; in the centre of the lip in front of the mouth of the spur with an inconspicuous keel-like callus; spur conical, obtuse. Column very short, glabrous. Ovary cylindrical, brown-squamulose, c. 0.8 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1911-1914)
Colours: Flowers golden yellow.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest; 1000 to 2400 m.
Flowering time in the wild: March, June, September, December.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea. See map: 625-53M.JPG.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.