Taeniophyllum engae J.J.Wood, Orchid Rev. 89 (1981) 213, fig.
Type: Cribb & Morrison S 178 (holo K, spirit material)
A leafless epiphytic herb. Roots pendulous, flattened, flexuous, 2-12 by 0.1-0.2 cm Peduncle and rachis 5-8 cm long, densely clothed in simple and branched, muricate, hispid hairs; sterile bracts remote, triangular-ovate, acute, hispid in the basal part, 1-2 mm long. Inflorescence 1- or 2-flowered, bracts ovate, acute, entirely hispid, 2-3 mm long. Pedicellate, ovary clavate, densely hispid, 6.5mm long. Sepals fleshy, muricate, hispid outside. Dorsal sepal ovate-oblong, obtuse, with a small dorsal keel at the apex, concave, 6 by 3 mm. Lateral sepals obliquely ovate, slightly concave, 7.5 by 3.5 mm Petals oblanceolate, obtuse, with a few hispid hairs along the median nerve, 5 by 1.5 mm. Lip shallowly 3-lobed, fleshy, glabrous, concave, 4.5 by 3 mm (width measured across mid-lobe); mid-lobe ovate, obtuse, 3 mm long; lateral lobes small, obtuse, 1.5 mm long; spur cylindrical, oblong, obtuse, 4 by 2.5 mm. Column square, 2-2.5 by 2 mm, ciliate above. Anther ovate, cucullate, shortly rostrate, 1 by 2 mm; pollinia pyriform, 1 by 0.5 mm. (After Wood, 1981)
Colours: Flowers cream.
Habitat: Epiphyte on Rhododendron in montane forest; 2950 m.
Flowering time in the wild: September.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea. See map: 676-65M.JPG.
Cultivation: Cool growing epiphyte.