Dendrobium sect. Dendrobium
Rhizomes short. Pseudobulbs rather short to much elongated, more or less distinctly fleshy, often pendulous, many-leaved. Leaves sheathing at the base, very rarely hairy (not in New Guinea), short-lived. Inflorescences lateral, mainly from the upper part of the stem after the leaves have fallen off, racemose or 1-flowered. Flowers medium-sized to large, resupinate, long-lived, showy. Mentum relatively short, sac-like. Lip not mobile, entire, often with its basal part clasping the column, often finely pubescent in the apical part.
Distribution
Sri Lanka, tropical continental Asia, Japan, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Australia. About 55 species; in New Guinea 2 species.
Habitat
Epiphytes in lowland forest.
Notes
This section, which has yielded so many magnificent orchids in the hills and mountains of tropical continental Asia (D. nobile, D. devonianum, D. parishii, to name a few), is very poorly represented in New Guinea, only two species being known: the widespread and rather attractive Dendrobium anosmum and the endemic but fairly insignificant Dendrobium vesiculosum.