Drooping cane orchid

Description

Dendrobium moorei (Syn. Thelychiton moorei) commonly known as the drooping cane orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid in the family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Lord Howe Island. It has cylindrical pseudobulbs, leathery, dark green leaves and between two and fifteen small, white drooping flowers that do not open widely. Dendrobium moorei is an epiphytic or lithophytic orchid with cylindrical green or yellowish pseudobulbs 100–200 mm (4–8 in) long and 6–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) wide. There are between two and five leaves 60–150 mm (2–6 in) long and 15–20 mm (0.59–0.79 in) wide. Between two and fifteen drooping white flowers with a tube-shaped base, 8–12 mm (0.3–0.5 in) long and 10–15 mm (0.4–0.6 in) wide are arranged on a flowering stem 40–100 mm (2–4 in) long. The sepals and petals are pointed, thin and do not open widely. The sepals are 8–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long and about 3 mm (0.1 in) wide, the petals shorter and narrower. The labellum is about 8 mm (0.3 in) long and 5 mm (0.2 in) wide, sometimes with faint pink markings with a triangular, crinkled middle lobe. Flowering occurs between August and May. Dendrobium moorei was first formally described in 1869 by Ferdinand von Mueller from a specimen collected by Charles Moore. The description was published in Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae. The specific epithet (moorei) honours the collector of the type specimen. The drooping cane orchid grows on trees and rocks in humid, sheltered forests, usually at altitudes of above 400 m (1,000 ft) on Lord Howe Island. Dendrobium (syn. Thelychiton) is a genus of mostly epiphytic and lithophytic orchids in the family Orchidaceae. It is a very large genus, containing more than 1,800 species that are found 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. Orchids in this genus have roots that creep over the surface of trees or rocks, rarely having their roots in soil. Up to six leaves develop in a tuft at the tip of a shoot and from one to a large number of flowers are arranged along an unbranched flowering stem. Several attempts have been made to separate Dendrobium into smaller genera, but most have not been accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families.