For the mining town, see Dendrobium, New South Wales. For the hydroid genus, see Solanderiidae.
Dendrobium is a huge genus of orchids. It was established by Olof Swartz in 1799 and today contains about 1,200 species. The genus occurs in diverse habitats throughout much of south, east and southeast Asia, including China, Japan, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, New Guinea, Vietnam, and many of the islands of the Pacific. The name is from the Greek dendron ("tree") and bios ("life"); it means "one who lives on trees", or, essentially, "epiphyte".

In 1981, Briegar reclassified all terete-leaved Dendrobiums from Australia and New Guinea into a new genus, Dockrillia. The Winika orchid from New Zealand was formerly D. cunninghamii, but has now been moved into a monotypic genus Winika. In 1989, Clements upgraded the D. speciosum complex into individual species; similarly, the D. bigibbum complex (which contains the well-known Cooktown Orchid of Australia, D. phalaenopsis) has recently been split up. However, as an illustration of the current revisions in the taxonomy of Orchidaceae these 'splits' have now been reversed and the currently accepted species, natural nothospecies are presented on Wikispecies Dendrobium. The site includes a list of references that help explain the contemporary taxonomy of Dendrobium Sw., Nova Acta Regiae Soc. Sci. Upsal. 6: 82 (1799), nom. cons.

Description


Parish's Dendrobium, Dendrobium parishii
Dendrobium species are either epiphytic, or occasionally lithophytic. They have adapted to a wide variety of habitats, from the high altitudes in the Himalayan mountains to lowland tropical forests and even to the dry climate of the Australian desert.

This genus of sympodial orchids develop pseudobulbs, which vary in length from under a centimetre (e.g. Dendrobium leucocyanum) to several metres long (e.g. Dendrobium discolor), resembling canes. A few grow into long reedlike stems. Leaf bases form sheaths that completely envelope the stem. In the section Formosae (e.g. Dendrobium infundibulum), the sheaths and undersides of leaves are covered with fine short black hairs. Other species (e.g. Dendrobium senile), are covered with fine white hairs.

In selected species, the short, ovate leaves grow alternately over the whole length of the stems, in others, the leaves are bunched towards the apex of the stem (e.g. Dendrobium tetragonum). The axillary inflorescence vary in length from insignificant to 1m long, and can carry from a few (1-4) (e.g. Dendrobium nobile) to as many as 100 (e.g. Dendrobium speciosum) flowers. Deciduous species carry their leaves for one to two years then typically flower on leafless canes, while canes of evergreen species usually flower in the second year and can continue to flower for a number of years (e.g. Dendrobium densiflorum).

These orchids grow quickly throughout summer, but take a rest during winter. Dormant buds erupt into shoots from the base of the pseudobulb mainly in spring, and a few species in autumn. This is then followed by rapid growth of new roots. Reproduction is usually through seed, but a few species reproduce asexually through keikis produced along the stem, usually after flowering and sometimes as a result of injury to the growing tip.

Selected species


Dendrobium salaccense
Dendrobium anosmum – Unscented Dendrobium - misnomer
Dendrobium begaudii
Dendrobium bilobum
Dendrobium brevicaudum– Mount Finnigan orchid
Dendrobium bukidnonensis– Bukidnon Dendrobium
Dendrobium bullenianum – Bullen's Orange Dendrobium
Dendrobium candidum
Dendrobium cariniferum
Dendrobium ceraula – Horned Dendrobium
Dendrobium chameleon – Chameleon-like Dendrobium
Dendrobium chrysanthum
Dendrobium conanthum
Dendrobium crispilinguum
Dendrobium crumenatum – Pigeon Orchid, Sparrow Orchid, Bag-shaped Dendrobium, "dove orchid"
Dendrobium cuthbertsonii – Cuthbertson's Dendrobium
Dendrobium dearei – Deare's Dendrobium
Dendrobium erosum
Dendrobium epidendropsis from the Philippines
Dendrobium euryanthum
Dendrobium fairchildae – Fairchild's Dendrobium
Dendrobium forbesii
Dendrobium formosum
Dendrobium gerlandianum
Dendrobium gibsonii
Dendrobium goldschmidtianum – Goldschmidt's Dendrobium
Dendrobium guerreroi – Guerrero's Dendrobium
Dendrobium hellwigianum
Dendrobium hercoglossum
Dendrobium heterocarpum – Different fruits Dendrobium
Dendrobium hymenophyllum
Dendrobium ionopus – Violet scented Dendrobium
Dendrobium johnsoniae
Dendrobium junceum Philippine endemic
Dendrobium kingianum – Pink Rock Orchid, Captain King's Dendrobium, Pink Rock Lily (sometimes separated in Thelychiton)
Dendrobium lydiae Cootes, M.Leon & Naive, 2016
Dendrobium lindleyi – Lindley's Dendrobium (formerly D. aggregatum)
Dendrobium lineale
Dendrobium lituiflorum
Dendrobium loddigesii – Loddiges' Dendrobium
Dendrobium macrophyllum – Large leafed Dendrobium
Dendrobium macropus
Dendrobium macropus subsp. howeanum – Bush Orchid
Dendrobium milaniae native of Mount Pangasugan in the Philippine
Dendrobium mindanaense – Mindanao island Dendrobium
Dendrobium miyasakii – Miyaki's Dendrobium
Dendrobium nobile – Noble Dendrobium
Dendrobium papilio – Butterfly Dendrobium
Dendrobium parthenium
Dendrobium pendulum
Dendrobium pentapterum
Dendrobium phalaenopsis – Cooktown Orchid (formerly D. bigibbum var. phalaenopsis, D. bigibbum var. superbum) - now classified as Vappodes phalaenopsis
Dendrobium philippinensis– Philippine Dendrobium
Dendrobium phillippsii – Phillips' Dendrobium
Dendrobium platycaulon – Flat Cane Dendrobium
Dendrobium polysema
Dendrobium profusum – Profused' Dendrobium
Dendrobium ramosii – Ramos' Dendrobium
Dendrobium sanderae – Sander's Dendrobium
Dendrobium sanguinolentum
Dendrobium schuetzei – Schuetz's Dendrobium
Dendrobium secundum
Dendrobium seratilabium – Serrated Lip Dendrobium
Dendrobium sinense
Dendrobium speciosum – Outstanding Dendrobium, King Orchid, Rock Lily
Dendrobium taurinum – Bulls Head Dendrobium
Dendrobium thyrsiflorum
Dendrobium thysanophorum
Dendrobium uniflorum – Single flowered Dendrobium
Dendrobium velutinalabrum
Dendrobium victoriae-reginae – Queen Victoria's Dendrobium
Dendrobium wangliangii – May 2006 by Liang Wang (Chinese: 王亮)
Dendrobium wenzellii – Wenzell's Dendrobium
Dendrobium yeagerei – Yeager's Dendrobium
^ New orchid species found in Philippine forest guerrilla zone
In horticulture

Dendrobium is commonly abbreviated as Den in horticulture. Some species are in great demand by orchid lovers. This has resulted in numerous varieties and hybrids, such as the Noble Dendrobium (D. nobile) breeds, which have greatly extended the range of colors of the original plant from the Himalayas. The flowers of Cuthbertson's Dendrobium (D. cuthbertsonii) have been reported to last up to ten months each.

Many Dendrobium species are known to vigorously remove toluene and xylene from the air.

Several hybrids in this genus have been registered and named after notable persons and institutions:

Dendrobium Bae Yong-joon
Dendrobium Sccci 100th Anniversary
Dendrobium Margaret Thatcher
Dendrobium Iriana Jokowi

Pink Dendrobium densiflorum × farmeri hybrid


Dendrobium 'Mini Brown'[verification needed], a horticultural hybrid


Painting of a typical Dendrobium by I. V. Passmoore, probably the hybrid Dendrobium Lucky Seven


Dendrobium Margaret Thatcher


Dendrobium hybrida


Dendrobium

Other uses by humans


Noble Dendrobium, Dendrobium nobile[verification needed]
Some Dendrobium species are cultivated as medicinal plants. The Noble Dendrobium (D. nobile) for example is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it is known as shí hú (石斛) or shí hú lán (石斛兰).

Many species and cultivars of this genus are well-known floral emblems and have been figured in artwork. Among the former are:

Dendrobium formosum (Beautiful giant-flowered dendrobium) – emblem of Ranong Province (Thailand)
Dendrobium 'Kim il Sung' (Kimilsungia) – emblem of North Korea
Dendrobium moniliforme (Sekikoku) – emblem of Matsushima, Miyagi (Japan)
Dendrobium nobile (Noble Dendrobium) – emblem of Sikkim (India)
Dendrobium biggibum (Cooktown Orchid, anggrek larat) – emblem of Maluku province (Indonesia) and Queensland (Australia).
Dendrobium utile[verification needed] (locally known as anggrek serat) – emblem of the Indonesian province of South East Sulawesi
The Cooktown Orchid was figured on Australian stamps in 1968 and 1998, and several Dendrobium cultivars are depicted on the obverse side of the Singapore Orchid Series currency notes issued between 1967 and 1976:

Dendrobium Marjorie Ho – S$10
Dendrobium Shangri-La – S$500
Dendrobium Kimiyo Kondo – S$1000
The Golden-bow Dendrobium (D. chrysotoxum), colloquially called "Fried-egg Orchid" was one of the species grown by the fictional private detective and orchid fancier Nero Wolfe, and plays a role in The Final Deduction.


source - Wikipedia