Dendrobium bambusiforme

Dendrobium bambusiforme Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 58 (1923) 114 ('lambusiforme').

Type: Ledermann 10132 (holo B, lost).

Rhizome very short. Stems crowded, pendulous, terete, unbranched, to more than 200 cm by 6 mm, densely many-leaved. Leaf sheaths entirely covering the stem. Leaves erect-patent, narrowly lanceolate, 13-17 by 1.6-2 cm, apex acute to subacuminate, the very tip unequally bilobulate. Inflorescences subsessile, 2-flowered, spathe oblong, laterally compressed. Floral bracts deltoid, minute. Ovary 0.4 cm long, sessile, obconical, glabrous. Flowers c. 2.5 cm across, fleshy. Dorsal sepal ligulate, 2 cm long, apex obtuse. Lateral sepals falcate, obliquely ligulate, widened at the base, 1.3 cm long, apex obtuse; mentum 0.5 cm long, obtuse. Petals narrowly falcate-ligulate, 1.8 cm long, apex obtuse. Lip lanceolate, curved, 0.9 by 0.4 cm, base cuneate, in basal half transversely rugose with sparse warts, with a subcrenulate basal keel extending to below the middle, in upper half along the median with sparse obtuse warts, margins lightly undulate, apex acute. Column narrowed to the apex, 0.25 cm long, clinandrium with short, obtuse lateral lobes; column-foot lightly incurved, 0.5.
(after Schlechter, 1923).

Colours: Flower yellowish white with wine-red dots.

Habitat: Epiphyte in hill forest. Altitude 600 m.

Flowering time in the wild: December.

Distribution: New Guinea (endemic).

Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea (East Sepik Province: Lordberg).

Map: BAMBUMAP.JPG [Dendrobium bambusiforme Schltr., distribution map.]

Notes: Related to D. perlongum, but having an entire lip.

Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.

%LABEL% (%SOURCE%)