Orchids of New Guinea

Thelasis carinata

Thelasis carinata Blume, Bijdr. (1825) 386; Tab. & Pl. Jav. Orchid. (1825) t. 75

Type: Blume s.n. (Mt. Salak) (syn L; isosyn K); 218 (syn L)

Synonyms:

Eria carinata (Blume) Rchb.f. in Seem., Fl. Vitiensis (1868) 301
Phreatia carinata (Blume) Miq., Fl. Ned. Indiñ3 (1859) 655
- Type: Blume s.n. (Mt. Salak) (syn L; iso K); 218 (syn L)
Oxyanthera carinata (Blume) Schltr., Mém. Herb. Boissier 21 (1900) 76
Oxyanthera elata (Hook.f.) Hook.f., Hooker's Icon. Pl. 22 (1892) t. 2156
Thelasis elata Hook.f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 6 (1890) 87
- Type: King's collector s.n. (M.P., Perak) (holo K)
Thelasis papuana (Schltr.) W.Kittr., Bot. Mus. Leafl. 30 (1984, publ. 1985) 102
Oxyanthera papuana Schltr. in K.Schum. & Lauterb., Nachtr. Fl. Deutsch. Schutzgeb. Südsee (1905) 126
- Type: Schlechter 14330 (holo B, lost; iso K)
Thelasis carinata Blume f. semipelorica J.J.Sm., Nova Guinea 14 (1929) 492
- Type: Bogor cult. (Feuilletau de Bruyn, leg. Ajoeb) 45 (syn BO); Janowsky 636 (syn BO); Bogor cult. (Kornasi) 50 (syn BO)

Epiphytic, caespitose, stemless, to 30 cm high; Roots glabrous, elongated, flexuose, terete. Leaves 3-4, with their sheaths hiding the ancipitous, 3.5-5 cm long, in basal half 1.2-1.5 cm wide, 1-leaved pseudobulb; leaf sheaths 3.5-5 cm long. Leaves linear-ovate, 13-25 by 0.8-1.2 cm, apex asymmetric, obtuse. Inflorescences lateral, racemose, erect-patent, often shorter than the leaves; peduncle-scales 3-4, small, submembranous; rachis 4-6 cm long, laxly several-flowered. Floral bracts ovate, apex bristle-like acuminate, glabrous, much shorter than the ovary. Flowers not resupinated, patent. Median sepal lanceolate, 0.6 cm long, apex acute. Lateral sepals somewhat obliquely lanceolate, 0.6 cm long, apex acute. Petals narrowly lanceolate, subfalcate, almost as long as the sepals. Lip ligulate, almost 0.6 cm long, the concave-semiglobose base separated from the flat blade by a small transverse keel, apex acuminate. Column very short, foot absent; rostellum erect, very long, bifid, at the basal margin on either side with a small auricle. Anther lanceolate, rostrate-acuminate. Pollinia 8; caudicles single, narrowly linear; viscidium linear, acute at both ends. Pedicel very short; ovary with pedicel 0.4 cm long, 3-ribbed. (After Schlechter, 1905)

Colours:

Flower greenish with white tips to the sepals and petals.

Habitat:

Epiphyte in hill forest and on isolated roadside trees; 200 to 1100 m.

Distribution:

Malesia (Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi, Lesser Sunda Islands, Moluccas, New Guinea, Philippines, Sula Islands).

Distribution New Guinea:

Tanah Papua (Papua Prov.); Papua New Guinea. See map

Cultivation:

Warm growing epiphyte.

Flowering time in the wild:

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, September, October, November, December.

References:

Smith, J.J., Orchid. Java (1905) 497
Smith, J.J., Orchid. Java, Fig.-Atl. (1912) fig. 375
Schlechter, R., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1913) 905, as Oxyanthera papuana Schltr.
Schlechter, R., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 21 (1928) t. 316, fig. 1216, as Oxyanthera papuana Schltr.
Jones, D.L., Orchadian 8 (1985) 58, fig.
O'Byrne, P., Lowland Orchid. Papua New Guinea (1994) 152, fig.

Classification:

Family Orchidaceae
Subfamily Epidendroideae
Tribe Podochileae
Subtribe Thelasiinae
Genus Thelasis
Section Oxyanthera
Species Thelasis carinata