Sepalosiphon Schlechter
in Fedde's Rep. Beihefte 1: 316; 1914
INTRODUCTION: Considered by R. Schlechter as a 'peculiar form of Glomerinae' he described this monotypic genus on the basis of the formation of the spur which takes place at the base of the thick extended lateral sepals in conjunction with the closely attached lip spur. The spur is formed through the fusion of the lateral sepals, as in Ceratostylis species, althugh then labellum is completely free in this genus.
DERIVATION OF GENUS NAME: A monotypic genus established by Rudolf Schlechter for a species which he found in 1908 on tall trees in the forests of the Kani Range at an elevation of some 1100 m. The generic name was derived from the Greek sepalum = sepal and siphon = tube in reference to the greatly elongated lateral sepals which closely connate with the fleshy claw of the lip.
TYPE SPECIES: Sepalosiphon papuanum Schltr.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GENUS: This small, erect, epiphytic species, S. papuanum, vegetatively resembles Guilianetta viridis Schltr. but is rather smaller in its dimemsions. The flowers of the species are olive green.
HABITAT: The species is found in the mist forests of the Kani Range, alt. c. 1,100 m, where it occurs as an epiphyte on the thickly moss-covered trunks of trees and then always only singly. - R. Schlechter no. 17251, flowering in January 1908
