Caespitose epiphyte, 10-30 (60) cm tall; stems short; pseudobulbs ovoid, enclosed in the leaf sheaths, with 2-5 leaves from apex. Leaves 3-15 (25) cm long, 0.5-3 cm wide. Panicles terminal, 5-15 (30) cm long; peduncles stout, with short racemose branches; rachis glabrous to sparsely puberulent; flowers yellow, maturing at base of raceme first, each subtended by a persistent bract; sepals 3-4.5 mm long, 1.5-3 mm wide; petals much smaller; lip 2.5-3.5 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, trilobate, the middle lobe largest, farinose (covered with a mealy powder); ovary glabrous. Fruits ellipsoid, ca 1 cm long, ridged. Croat 6707. Mexico through tropical South America; West Indies. In Panama, known from tropical moist forest chiefly on the Pacific slope of the Canal Zone and in Panama and from premontane wet forest in Chiriqui (Lino) and Coclé.