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Renanthera edelfeldtii

Renanthera edelfeldtii

Renanthera edelfeldtii F.Muell. & Kraenzl., sterr. Bot. Zeitschr. 44 (1894) 460

Type: Edelfeldt s.n. (1884, Port Moresby) (holo B?, lost)

A straggling epiphyte up to 10 m long [usually 1-2 m, fide O'Byrne]. Stems rooting from the nodes, up to 50 cm long, 6 mm in diameter, leafy in apical section. Leaves alternate, oblong, 9-12 by 2.2-2.6 cm, unequally roundly bilobed at apex, articulated to a sheathing base c. 3 cm long. Inflorescence lateral, from near the apex of the stem, emerging through the leaf sheath base, branched, erect, up to 60 cm long, each branch laxly 10-20-flowered, up to 13 cm long; peduncle up to 30 cm long, stout; bracts oblong, obtuse, 3-4 mm long, 1 mm wide. Pedicel and ovary 1.5 cm long; sepals and petals spreading widely. Median sepal oblong-spathulate, 1-1.3 by 0.3 cm. Lateral sepals obliquely spathulate, 1-1.3 by 0.4 cm, slightly twisted. Petals linear-oblong, 0.8-0.9 by 0.2-0.3 cm. Lip 3-lobed; lateral lobes erect, obliquely triangular, 0.2 by 0.2 cm; mid-lobe oblong, reflexed, 0.15 by 0.15 cm, with two ovoid, fleshy calli at the base; spur conical, obtuse, 0.3-0.4 by 0.2-0.25 cm; column 0.3 cm long.
(After Lewis & Cribb, 1991, as ‘Renanthera endsfeldtii’)


Flower deep orange or reddish-orange with darker or red spots, a bright red lip with a creamy-yellow base, and a red column blotched with yellow.

Epiphyte in lowland forest and beach forest; 0 to 560 m.

Malesia (Sulawesi, New Guinea), Solomon Islands.

Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea. See map

distribution map

Warm growing epiphyte, requires light position.

February, March, May, July.

  • Schlechter, R., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1913) 974
  • Smith, J.J., Nova Guinea 12, 4 (1916) 461, t. 179, fig. 333
  • Schlechter, R., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 21 (1928) t. 343, fig. 1323
  • O'Byrne, P., Lowland Orchid. Papua New Guinea (1994) 520, fig., pl.
  • Family Orchidaceae
  • Subfamily Epidendroideae
  • Tribe Vandeae
  • Subtribe Aeridinae
  • Genus Renanthera
  • Species Renanthera edelfeldtii

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Renanthera edelfeldtii

overview picture

Renanthera edelfeldtii

Renanthera edelfeldtii F.Muell. & Kraenzl., inflorescence, photo J.B. Comber, from PNG, Sogeri

Renanthera edelfeldtii

Renanthera edelfeldtii F.Muell. & Kraenzl., habit and flowers, drawing N.H.S. Howcroft 28, from Ulamona, WNBR

Renanthera edelfeldtii

Renanthera edelfeldtii F.Muell. & Kraenzl., floral analysis, drawing J.J. Smith, from Bogor cult. (Gjellerup) 400

Renanthera edelfeldtii

Renanthera edelfeldtii F.Muell. & Kraenzl., drawing R. Schlechter in Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 21 (1928) t. 343, fig. 1323