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Dendrobium aurantitepalum

Dendrobium aurantitepalum

Dendrobium aurantitepalum de Vogel in De Vogel, E.F., van Vugt, R. & Hoogendijk, E.A.H., Dendrobium section Diplocaulobium subsection Goniobulbon (Orchidaceae) 1: The Species with 4 or 5 Keels on the Epichile, Malesian Orchid Journal Vol. 22 (2018): 84, fig. 1-3

Type: Leiden cult. 20110797 (de Vogel) (holo L)

Roots filiform, flexuose, thin, 0.1–0.15 cm thick. Rhizome creeping. Pseudobulbs c. 0.5 cm apart, partly overlapping and appressed to the base of the next pseudobulb, conspicuously dorso-ventrally flattened, elliptic in outline, 1–1.4 by 0.8–0.9 by c. 0.3 cm; with a low median ridge; often long covered by a dried, membranous scale leaf. Leaves ovate to elliptic, 1.5–3 by 1.1–1.2 cm, index 1.9–2.5; apex more or less oblique, notched, with acute lobules; rather thin coriaceous. Inflorescences 1 per pseudobulb, arising in succession from the pseudobulb, 1.7–2.3 cm long; peduncle 0.2–0.25 cm long, much shorter than the 0.4–0.7 cm long spathe. Flower 1.4–1.6 cm high, widely open. Pedicel and ovary 0.8–1 cm long, terete, not grooved. Median sepal narrowly triangular, 0.9–1.1 by c. 0.4 cm; recurved; flat to slightly concave; apex acute. Lateral sepals falcate, obliquely triangular, 0.9–1.2 by c. 0.75 cm; top half semi-tubular; apex acute; mentum conical, obtuse, c. 0.6 cm long. Petals lineartriangular, 0.8–1.05 by 0.12–0.2 cm; somewhat semitubular except at the base; apex acute. Lip gently curved in the middle; keels 5, minutely papillose (magn. 25×); hypochile when flattened c. obovate to rectangular, widest in front when flattened, c. 0.7 by 0.4–0.5 cm, narrower at the base and there broadly attached over the entire width leaving no auricles; lateral lobes in lateral view in front broadly rounded, receding; keels 2, rather wide apart, parallel and straight or curved, distinctly swollen; in top 1/4 of the hypochile converging and almost touching; epichile when flattened broadly ovate or elliptic, c. 0.45–0.6 by 0.3–0.55 cm; top rounded with acute tip to acute, with more or less coarsely irregular margin; median keel from base to well below the top of the epichile, somewhat undulating; inner lateral keels plate-like and undulating with 4–7 curves, about as long as the median keel; outer lateral keels short, low, less than 1/4 of the length of the epichile. Column c. 0.2 by 0.25–0.3 cm, c. 0.3 cm wide; clinandrium 3-lobulate, the lateral lobules broadly triangular, the median one subulate; column-foot gently curved, in natural position c. 0.7 cm long. Anther in outline bell-shaped, c. 0.15 by 0.12–0.15 cm; apex truncate or retuse, sometimes notched.
(After De Vogel in De Vogel, Vugt & Hoogendijk 2018)


Sepals and petals creamy white, tips ochrish yellow to orange. Lip creamy white, lateral lobes dull purple, keels light yellow. Column creamy white, stigma and anther greenish yellow

Epiphyte. Altitude 150 m.

Malesia (New Guinea), endemic

Papua New Guinea (Madang Prov.)

Warm growing epiphyte.

Flowering in cultivation in Hortus botanicus Leiden in February, July, August

  • Family Orchidaceae
  • Subfamily Epidendroideae
  • Tribe Dendrobieae
  • Subtribe Dendrobiinae
  • Genus Dendrobium
  • Section Diplocaulobium
  • Subsection Goniobulbon
  • Species Dendrobium aurantitepalum

Dendrobium aurantitepalum de Vogel resembles D. senggiense de Vogel in the flattened pseudobulbs, but differs in the larger, thinner and less stiff leaves, the wider epichile, and the 2-coloured sepals and petals


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Dendrobium aurantitepalum

Dendrobium aurantitepalum de Vogel, photo Ed de Vogel in De Vogel, van Vugt & Hoogendijk, Malesian Orchid Journal 22 (2018) 87, fig. 2, based on Leiden cult. 20110797 (de Vogel)

Dendrobium aurantitepalum

Dendrobium aurantitepalum de Vogel, photo Ed de Vogel in De Vogel, van Vugt & Hoogendijk, Malesian Orchid Journal 22 (2018) 87, fig. 1, based on Leiden cult. 20110797 (de Vogel)

Dendrobium aurantitepalum

Dendrobium aurantitepalum de Vogel, plant habit, photo Ed de Vogel, based on Leiden cult. 20020156

Dendrobium aurantitepalum

Dendrobium aurantitepalum de Vogel, plant with flower, photo Ed de Vogel, based on Leiden cult. 20020156

Dendrobium aurantitepalum

Dendrobium aurantitepalum de Vogel, flower, front view, photo Ed de Vogel, based on Leiden cult. 20020156

Dendrobium aurantitepalum

Dendrobium aurantitepalum de Vogel, flower, oblique lateral view, photo Ed de Vogel, based on Leiden cult. 20020156

Dendrobium aurantitepalum

Dendrobium aurantitepalum de Vogel, flower, lateral view, photo Ed de Vogel, based on Leiden cult. 20020156

Dendrobium aurantitepalum

Dendrobium aurantitepalum de Vogel, drawing Eline Hoogendijk in De Vogel, van Vugt & Hoogendijk, Malesian Orchid Journal 22 (2018) 87, fig. 3