Genus Dendrobium section Microphytanthe
Genus Dendrobium sect. Microphytanthe Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 442. Type species: Dendrobium bulbophylloides Schltr.
Synonyms:
- Genus Microphytanthe (Schltr.) Brieger in Schltr., Orchideen, ed. 3, 1 (1981) 742.
Rhizome elongated, creeping. Pseudobulbs distant along the rhizome, consisting of one internode, ovoid to oblongoid, 1-leaved. Leaves small, thick coriaceous, glabrous; leaf sheath absent. Inflorescences terminal or subterminal laterally just below the apex, short, 1-flowered. Flowers small, resupinate, fleshy, lasting a few weeks. Sepals not connate; mentum not spur-like, large and rather broad, open in front. Petals much narrower than the sepals. Lip mobile on the apex of the column-foot, fleshy, entire or weakly lobed, without keels but sometimes with transverse calli near the middle, glabrous. .
New Guinea, endemic. Three species.
Epiphytes in lowland and montane forest, up to 2750 m above sea level.
- Family Orchidaceae
- Subfamily Epidendroideae
- Tribe Dendrobieae
- Subtribe Dendrobiinae
- Genus Dendrobium
- Section Microphytanthe
- Lavarack, B., W. Harris & G. Stocker. 2000. Dendrobium and its relatives. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon.
- Reeve, T.M. 1983. A revision of Dendrobium section Microphytanthe. Orchadian 7: 203-206.
Genus Dendrobium sect. Microphytanthe Schltr. is, next to sect. Herpetophytum Schltr., the only other endemic section of Dendrobium in New Guinea. The three species of sect. Microphytanthe are very similar in habit: they are very small creeping plants with long rhizomes, forming strings of short, 1-leaved pseudobulbs. At first sight they can easily be mistaken for species of Bulbophyllum, but the position of the inflorescence, on top of the pseudubulb, soon dispels that illusion. The solitary flowers are small, but large for the plant. This section appears to be more closely related to the genus Cadetia than to any other group of species within Dendrobium itself, a fact that is bound to cause taxonomical problems.
Dendrobium section Microphytanthe contains 3 species, in New Guinea 3 species:
Dendrobium bulbophylloides
Dendrobium margaretiae
Dendrobium nummularia
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Genus Dendrobium section Microphytanthe
Dendrobium bulbophylloides Schltr., photo A. de Wilde, cultivated Highland Orchid Collection, Laiagam, PNG