Orchids of New Guinea

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Dendrobium caliculimentum

Dendrobium caliculimentum R.S.Rogers, Trans. & Proc. Roy. Soc. South Australia 49 (1925) 261 ('caliculi-mentum').

Type: Lane-Poole 265 (New Guinea, Owen Stanley Ra.)(holo BRI; iso AD (2), L).

Synonyms:

Pedilonum caliculimentum (R.S.Rogers) Rauschert, Feddes Repert. 94 (1983) 458.
Dendrobium altomontanum Gilli, Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien 84, B (1980 publ. 1983) 24, fig. 12.
- Type: Gilli 501 (holo W).
Dendrobium lompobatangense J.J.Sm., Bull. J. Bot. Buitenzorg (sér. 3), 10 (1928) 15-16
- Type: Bünnemeijer 11985 (lecto: L, chosen by Dauncey 2003; isolecto: P [xerox], U), Bünnemeijer 12028 (syn: BO [Photograph]; Bünnemeijer 12135 (syn: K, L); Bünnemeijer 12159 (syn: AMES, BO [photo], L); Bünnemeijer 12400 (syn: L).
Pedilonum lompobatangense (J.J.Sm.) Rauschert, Feddes Repert. 94: 461 (1983).
Dendrobium rhododiodes P.Royen, Alp. Fl. New Guinea 2 (1979) 332, fig. 115.
- Type: LAE (Stevens & Veldkamp) 54169 (holo CAMB; iso A, BISH, BO, BRI, K, L, LAE, NSW, PNH, SING).

Rhizome short. Stems crowded, pendulous, slender, terete, branching, 90-120 cm long, many-leaved, internodes up to 2.2 cm long. Leaf sheaths longer than the internodes, entirely covering the stem, tubular, truncate. Leaves subpatent, lanceolate, 1.1-3.7 by 0.25-0.4 cm, margins at the apex minutely serrate, apex sharply acute; rigid. Inflorescences arising from the apical part of the stem, very short, terminal and subterminal, racemose, 4-6-flowered. Pedicel and ovary 1.4 cm long, slender, pedicel 0.7 cm long. Flowers not resupinated, 1.4-1.5 cm long. Dorsal sepal erect, ovate, slightly concave, narrowing at the base, 0.5-0.6 cm by 2.75 mm, 3-nerved, apex sharply acute. Lateral sepals obliquely obcuneate, along the anterior margins 1.4-1.5 cm long, connate at the base for 0.4 cm, free part as long as the dorsal sepal, apex sharply acute; mentum curved, c. 0.8 cm long, obtuse. Petals erect, narrowly oblong, much narrower than the dorsal sepal, 0.55 cm long, 3-nerved, margins minutely serrate near apex, apex acute. Lip erect, much surpassing the column, elliptic-lanceolate, 1.3 cm long including the claw, 0.35 cm wide, base clawed, the claw semicylindrical, 0.5 by 0.3 mm, 5-nerved, adnate for 2 mm to the sides of the column-foot, forming a small cup, basal margin of the blade forming a transverse semilunate callus, lateral margins incurved, minutely serrate near the apex, 7-veined, apex acute. Column 0.3-0.4 cm long, clinandrium 3-lobulate, the lateral lobules broad, obtuse, slightly emarginate, the median a little longer, linear, conspicuously 1-veined; column-foot very slender, c. 0.9-1 cm long.
(after Rogers, 1925).

Colours:

Flower dark to pale rose at the base, pale rose to whitish at the tips.

Tepals pale pink or mauve to white or cream toward apices, sometimes entirely white; mentum dark to pale pink or mauve; lip often orange or red in the throat; ovary pink.

Habitat:

Epiphyte at 7-20 m above the ground in (sub)montane to subalpine moss forest, pine forest, Casuarina oligodon forest, mixed montane forest, mountain bush, mist forest, forest adjacent to grassland, forest fringing rivers and surrounded by tall grasslan

Distribution:

Sulawesi, New Guinea, Solomon Islands.

Distribution New Guinea:

Indonesia (Papua Province, Paniai and Jayawijaya Regencies); Papua New Guinea (Sandaun, Enga, Southern, Western, Northern and Eastern Highlands, Simbu, Madang, Morobe, Central, and Milne Bay Provinces).

Cultivation:

Cool growing epiphyte, keep in shade.

Flowering time in the wild:

Flowering throughout the year. Flowers long lasting.

Classification:

Family Orchidaceae
Subfamily Epidendroideae
Tribe Dendrobieae
Subtribe Dendrobiinae
Genus Dendrobium
Section Calyptrochilus
Species Dendrobium caliculimentum

Literature:

Dauncey, E.A. 2003. Harvard Pap. Bot. 7 (2003) 186, fig. 7 A-J.
Lewis, B. & P.J. Cribb. 1991. Orchids of the Solomon Islands and Bougainville: 192.

Notes:

Dendrobium caliculimentum R.S.Rogers is a common mountain species. It may be recognised by the long, flexible, pendulous stems, branching densely, almost broom-like in the upper part, while at the base usually only a single thin stem clings to the host tree. It can be extremely floriferous.