Mediocalcar arfakense J.J.Sm. 1913 Drawing © by Schuitteman

Common Name The Arfak Mountain Mediocalcar [a range of mountains in New Guinea]

Flower Size .2" [5 mm] wide .4" [1 cm] long

Found in New Guinea in montane forests usually at the base of trees or on logs at elevations of 1250 to 2650 meters as a miniature sized, cool to cold growing epiphyte or sometimes terrestrial with a creeping, sparsely branching rhizome with to 5 to 7 closely adpressed, tubular, obtuse to subacute, slightly keeled at the apex cataphyls, with .4 to 2.4" [1 to 6 cm] between each terete, basally elongating, enveloping the rhizome pseudobulbs carrying a single, sessile, glossy dark green above, paler green beneath, narrowly elliptic to very narrowly obovate, obtuse, more or less equally bilobed, mucronate, the mucro shorter than the lobules, keeled beneath, coriaceous leaf that blooms at any time of the year on synanthous, 1 to 1.2" [2.5 to 3 cm] long, apically provided with a triangular, acuminate bract, in pairs single flowered inflorescence carrying urceolate, oblique, more or less laterally flattened, deep pinkish red to bright scarlet flowers with yellowish green apice to the sepals petals and lip, yellow pollina, the pedicel and the ovary red.

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list, IPNI Orchid Monographs Vol 8 Schuitteman 1997 drawing fide;

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