Stigmatodactylus variegatus (Kores) Kores, Novon 2, 3 (1992) 212
Basionym: Acianthus variegatus
Small, erect herb, 3-7 cm tall; subterranean tubers absent. Stem slender, 4-angled, 3-6 cm long, glabrous, enclosed at base by 1-3 cataphylls; cataphylls clasping, 3-6 mm long, 1-nerved, distally free for 2-4 mm, the free portion acuminate. Leaf transversely ovate or subreniform, 9-15 mm long, 14-20 mm broad, the base broadly cordate and decurrent with stem along lateral edges, the apex apiculate, the margin undulate. Inflorescence to 2.5 cm tall, laxly 1-2 (-3)-flowered. Floral bracts broadly ovate, 2-4 mm long, 3-5 mm broad, 3- to 5-nerved, the base broadly cuneate, the apex acuminate. Flowers ascending. Dorsal sepal free, arched above the column, linear- subulate, 15-17 mm long, about 0.5 mm broad, 1-nerved, glabrous, narrowly acute at apex; lateral sepals and petals similar, free, broadly spreading, linear-subulate, 13-15 mm long, about 0.5 mm broad, 1-nerved, glabrous, narrowly acute at apex. Lip patent or slightly ascending, broadly obovate, 7-8 mm long, 9-10 mm broad, 13- or 15-nerved, the base rounded or slightly cordate, the apex broadly obtuse to slightly retuse, ultimately apiculate, the point slightly reflexed, 0.5-2 mm long, the lateral margins erose distally, the disc with 2 calli, the basal callus large, prominently 3-lobed, 4-5 mm long, about 2 mm broad, 2-3 mm tall, densely minutely pubescent throughout, the lateral lobes slightly longer than mid-lobed, appressed to mid-lobed, hyaline, aliform, 1.5-3 mm tall, with upper margins deeply cut, the mid-lobe lamellate, slightly thickened distally with upper margin channelled, the apex briefly emarginate, the suprabasal callus slightly distal to mid-lobe of basal callus and partially obscured by the apices of the lateral lobes, small, hyaline, narrowly narrowed, about 0.5 mm long, laxly, minutely pubescent. Column 6-8 mm long, the basal 2/3 with a hyaline keel along ventral surface, the keel with a small, subdeltoid tooth at apex, the apical 1/3 of column with a single pair of teeth along lateral edges of ventral surface; pollinia four, mealy, obliquely subdeltoid, about 0.9 mm long, about 0.4 mm broad, the viscidium small, oblong-elliptic, somewhat cucullate; stigma obovate, with a prominent, porrect, somewhat fleshy, subdeltoid tooth along ventral margin. Ovary cylindrical, 3-5 mm long, about 1 mm in diam., 6-ribbed; capsules fusiform, 7-9 mm long, about 3 mm in diam. (After Kores, 1991)
Colours: Plant light green. Sepals and petals and column pale green, the lip dark purple, with 5-7, pale green, longitudinal bands radiating outward from base, callus dark blue-black.
Habitat: Terrestrial in montane forest in deep shade; 2600 to 2700 m.
Flowering time in the wild: January, December.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 665-10M.JPG.
Cultivation: Cool growing terrestrial.