spotted dendrobium speciosum

[Solomon.d.goldberg]

So this just bloomed. Im just south of Boston. It was a root less backbulb division from my dad's house in San Francisco. It had bloomed before but it wasn't like this. It was a clear cream. I kept it outside all summer. It sent out a tiny new bulb. I brought it in in November to a sunny windows where it sentnout 4 spikes and a larger bulb. All spikes aborted except for this sad one.

It's spotted. Not sure if it's a virus or not......

what are your thoughts? there's a possibility I have my tags mixed up.

[rbarata]

Most photos of Den speciosum I've found have those tiny spots in the flowers.
IOSPE

[Solomon.d.goldberg]

I have flowered a few dozen and have never seen one nor seen any pictures. I guarantee that spotted speciosum are not common. There are usually spots on the labellum but never on the sepals. The only pictures I've seen similiar are 'Red Factor' ones.

[rbarata]

I see what you mean...in fact I cannot find any photos with spots out of the labellum. But, from your photo, they seem identical.
Sorry, can't help you more.

[Connie Star]

I think it looks lovely. It may have been a bit of a shock for it to move from California to Massachusetts, explaining the spikes that blasted.

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

It's probably a hybrid. The flowers don't look quite like D. speciosum, and then there is the spotting.

[smweaver]

I agree that it looks (in my opinion) like a hybrid. There are many primary hybrids between speciosum and other Australian dendrobiums (tetragonum, for example), as well as advanced hybrids, and they frequently have spotting to some degree. It's been my (rather frustrating) experience that numerous vendors in the US sell either sub-standard varieties of speciosum (sometimes at extravagant prices) or mislabeled plants that are actually speciosum hybrids. I actually like your plant's flower, and I don't think the spotting is from a virus.

[Solomon.d.goldberg]

It definitely is not a hybrid. I got this from the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate labeled as Dendrobium speciosum Daylight Moon FCC x Big Boy. I've grown hundreds of speciosum and hundreds of hybrids. It has the typical curvicaule flower shape and a symmetrical foxtail spike, although shorter than the first time it bloomed. I've had the original plant for about 10 years and it doesn't seem to bloom or send out new growth every year. Here's another spike this year from another division of the same plant.

I have about 10 speciosums in 10" clay azalea pots that I brought over at the same time and they bloom with the typical clear cream or bright yellow.

[Solomon.d.goldberg]

Here's another one with very light spotting. Its 2 different divisions of the same clone in a pot. Only one clone has spots. Its dendrobium speciosum 'OG Blew's Gold' division from Down Under Native Orchids.