NOID Dendrobium

[MattWoelfsen]

05/17/14, my orchid society travelled to Columbia Station, OH to attend Roberts Flower Supply Open House. This is an amazing place--lots of pots, potting media, plants all in a hodgepodge of shelves, green house, and store. I was there to buy pots and potting supplies. But I had to go through the green house to see what they had not intending to buy another plant.

Roberts had several shelves of Dendrobium--all in good health, many in bloom, all tagged. As I was going through these plants, I came across this plant. I scoured all of the Dendrobium to see if I could find another one, no luck. I even asked Robert if he knew what it was...he said no idea...but I could have it for $20.00. So this plant came home.

Even though it is not in bloom, could you help me figure out what this could be? The plant was in a very bright space. The top of leaves are green, underneath the leaves is purple. The keiki show the same coloration trait. The longest leaves are 4" long. The tallest canes are 6" tall, 3 1/2" pot, potted in coconut fiber, coal, and sponge rock.


NOID by MattWoelfsen, on Flickr


NOID by MattWoelfsen, on Flickr

[WhiteRabbit]

Shot in the dark guess ... speciosum or specio-kingi?

[MattWoelfsen]

Yes, I think you are right Sonya. It has the deciduous trait of no leaves like a kingianum but the cane and leaf trait of speciosa. Furthermore, speciosa does not keiki like this but kingianum does. While it will remain a NOID, it is good to know what it could be and grow it accordingly. Another idea I had was that it was a Den.speciosa x Den.monoliliforme.

[gnathaniel]

Can't say for sure without blooms but it looks very much like capituliflorum. Nice acquisition, in any case!

[MattWoelfsen]

Originally Posted by gnathaniel

Can't say for sure without blooms but it looks very much like capituliflorum. Nice acquisition, in any case!

Excellent gnathaniel!

A friend of mine came over to see my growing collection of Dendrobium. I asked him if he could identify this Dendrobium. He confirmed it is a Dendrobium capituliflorum. But the plant needs to confirm itself when it blooms. If it has a cluster of white with green tint like a bottle brush, then it is a Dendrobium capituliflorum.

[plumania]

Yep, looks same as my Dendrobium capituliflorum. I think their bloom season is around July...not sure though.

[LovePhals]

I agree that it is Den Capituliflorum. They always have purple underside leaves and the leaf shape is the same. They also drop leaves to flower, all signs point to that! Good buy for $20 if it is.

[MattWoelfsen]

Thank you for your opinions. I am really pleased with this plant. In the past month, all of the keiki have grown and it seems to be a very healthy plant. I'll post pictures later on today.


Dendrobium capituliflorum by MattWoelfsen, on Flickr