Dendrobium section Amblyanthus Schltr.
in K.Schum. & Lauterb., Nachtr. Fl. Deutsch. Schutzgeb. Südsee (1905) 150.
Rhizome short. Stems much elongated and slender, unbranched, rather fleshy, many-leaved. Leaves sheathing at the base, glabrous, relatively thin-textured. Inflorescences arising laterally from the stem, usually while this is still leafy, sometimes in great numbers, very short and dense, racemose, with the flowers facing in all directions and usually with large floral bracts. Flowers medium-sized, lasting at least several days, usually white with orange or yellow markings on the lip, the sepals outside covered with tiny brown scales. Mentum well-developed. Lip not mobile, with a blade-like, lobed or lacerate, backwards-pointing appendage in the basal part, often hairy near the apex.
Distribution
Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, New Guinea, Solomon Islands. About 17 species; in New Guinea c. 16 species.
Habitat
Epiphytes in lowland and montane forest, usually in growing in the shade.
Notes
This small [l][m]Glossary[/m][r]Section[/r]section of mainly white-flowered species is a rather isolated one. Like in section Brevisaccata the lip has a backwards pointing appendage in the basal part, but otherwise these two sections have little in common. Most species of sect. Amblyanthus have very dense and short, almost head-like inflorescences of medium-sized flowers that are often subtended by large bracts. Usually the sepals appear covered with numerous brown dots because of the presence of minute brownish scale-hairs. Although the flowers can be quite pretty, this section has little horticultural value.