Epiphyte. Pseudo-bulbs narrowly ovoid 1 to 3 cm long, attached 2 to 4 cm apart on annulated naked thin rhizomes. Leaf solitary, fleshy, narrowly elliptic, obtuse or sub-acute, narrowed to the base, sessile, 4 to 7 cm long and 1.5 to 3 cm in width. Scape stout, much shorter than the leaves, the peduncle also very short, with 5 to 8 flowers in umbel, flowers dorsally compressed. Rose red with spots of darker tints with leathery texture, will open only for a day (rather few hours only). Dorsal sepal broadly ovate, apiculate, concave and pressed to the column, lateral sepals much longer than the dorsal, oblong, obtuse. Cohering by their inner edges to form a sub-panduriform blade, slightly bifid at the apex. Petals oblong, nearly as long as the dorsal sepal, slightly falcate, obtuse. Lip oblong, entire, sub-acute, the base dilated, the upper surface slightly concave. The whole plant is of a coppery hue.
The Pursuit
A plant which will be in bloom for hardly an hour, during that short span all the flowers from each bulb open and close together. As the whole plant is of a coppery hue it is very easy to distinguish it from others. I got lots of them on tall trees from a tropical valley two years ago. It blooms in the peak summer days. I missed the first year, as it bloomed little earlier in the month than expected. Noted the days and waited for the next year. In 2012, I was there at the right time with buds about to bloom. As the crossing of the river and the trek to the spot take a few hours everyday, it was decided to camp at the site to get the perfect photograph. Camped there for three days, on the third day a few of the flowers bloomed at sunrise and could documented them very nicely. The opening of the flowers is also very interesting, the dorsal sepal just rises a little and the petals spread a little, the lip rises hardly half a cm. Everything happens within 5 to 10 minutes and the flower closes in less than an hour. By the time we reach the tree top, the show is finished!!!! So I sat on the tree top in the early morning hours to get the perfect shot.