Dendrobium miyakei: it could be december!

[Grautier]

Dendrobium miyakei 'Dorothy Thompson'


Got this plant some years ago as a little less than 10cm seedling. It took a while but got stronger with every new pbulb and eventually flowered, in early winter. Since then it has been a proliferous flowerer, every december or january, but also at other times of the year. Mostly after one or three weeks of neglect, ... when reassuming watering the old bulbs began to sprout new racemes of tiny pink flowers. The bulbs are about 60cm now, pendulous if not staked, but still in the same tiny basket I made for the seedling years back.

[rbarata]

Beautiful!
Can you post a photo of the whole plant?
Thanks

[Grautier]

Here it is:



Usually there are many racemes at once at all older pbulbs. This time just one, right on the top node.

[rbarata]

That's a large plant. I thought it was smaller.
Thanks for the photo.

[Roberta]

It is supposedly a synonym with Den. goldschmidtianum - which is a warm grower and gets big. My Den miyakei is smaller, more cold-tolerant (though it seems happier now in the greenhouse than it was outside). So they may really be different species, or may be different populations. Flowers look the same... beautiful color.

[Shadeflower]

lovely plant grautier so considering the journey that ant in the middle of the flower must have taken we can conclude that ants possibly are attracted to orchid flowers?

My last fragrant Catt was so intense it attracted hundreds of fruit flies. It was very strange. I've never really heard anyone report on fruit flies liking the fragrance but I have heard about ants possibly being attracted. It's one of those, no they are not but they they are always spotted looking for that sweet nectar too?

[Jeff214]

Beautiful blooms - One of my favorite species! Mine is short and growing happily in 40 oF degree range in cold rain here...

This plant and many others produce a lot of sugary dew and ants are attracted to it. If it's actually attracted to the flowers, I don't know.

[Grautier]

As ants are literally everywhere over here I think we can discard the thesis that ants are attracted by orchid flowers in particular.
There would be more than one, if so.
And the miyakei is hanging there just for watering and taking a picture ...